Tales Of A Servant
by QTXAdsy
Summary: A lot can happen when you are working in castle that has a Snow Queen, a Princess, a mountain man, a living snowman and a reindeer. Far from being a mundane job, it does prove to have a few interesting tales as one such servant, Aiden, has to put up with nearly everyday.
1. An Unlikely House Guest

**So after what feels like ages, I have returned to to write stories, and yes, it's Frozen...original I know. Anyway, had this idea lurking in my mind I thought might not sound bad, though I'm unsure if it might be any good as not only is a first time dealing with me writing Frozen, it is a long awaited return to writing again and I might be a little bit rusty. But anyway, here we go...**

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 **Chapter 1**

 **An Unlikely House Guest**

I suppose you are all aware of the tale of the Great Thaw of Arendelle, the reveal of Queen Elsa's snow powers, how Prince Hans attempted to marry princess Anna to claim the throne for himself and all that. Yet I suppose I don't think anything about how the rest of us, the citizens or Arendelle all felt during those few crazy days when one moment we were celebrating Elsa's coronation as the new Queen and then before we knew it, the Queen runs off in a panic and it starts snowing and Arendelle is frozen over.

Ask any of us and we'll all have our own stories to share as what we all had to do in order to get through this freak snow storm which although some of us can all look back and laugh, at the time it was quite a frightening affair if we were all to live forever in an eternal winter for the rest of our lives. Thankfully you'll all know it ends on a happy note as Elsa, who were all call fondly as 'The Snow Queen', managed to bring back summer and thus a new era of hope and prosperity would begin in Arendelle's history.

My name, before I go any further, is Aiden Fergusson, and I will say my knowledge on the whole history of Arendelle is somewhat _iffy,_ as if you can see from my name, I'm originally not from here, but rather all the way from Scotland. Growing up on the east coast of the country, my father, Andrew, worked as a fisherman out at sea and had to work constantly give us money to me and my mother to get us through life. I was and still are close to my Dad despite him being away most of the time, though ironically with my mother always there to care for me, I never really had the same closeness with my Dad oddly enough.

In hindsight, it was possibly for the best that my feelings for my mother were not as strong as rather whenever my Dad was away, she never really gave me the best care, not abusive or that, just aphetic about me and would instead always invite her so called 'friends' over, all of who all just happened to be male…

Being six years old at the time, I never really understood why she acted rather intimately with some of these guys when I had the rough idea that Mum and Dad were supposed to be together. As you can probably put two and two together, my mother's friends were in fact various men she was going out with all behind my Dad's back, who sadly had no knowledge about his wife's cheating going on while he was at sea.

Dad would soon find out about Mum's cheating and was left absolutely _devastated_ by it, while I could see why Mum hated that my Dad was always away while he was trying to make a living for us, the fact she would do all this when he was away was horrible. What made it worse for Dad is that he told me when divorce finally came about, she seemed to have no trouble in giving me over to my Dad as if I was just some unimportant possession of my Dad.

Following this sorry state of affairs, my Dad tried to raise me as a single parent, though even with the sympathetic help of his fellow fisherman colleagues all trying to help us, my Dad couldn't bare to stay and wanted to leave the country and start a new life elsewhere to get away from it all. One of guys at the port he worked at suggested perhaps that we should move to Arendelle, a small country somewhere in the south of Norway, as there was a similar fisherman's job, he could set up for Dad to work for when he got there.

My Dad felt he had nothing to lose and with all our supplies and whatever we had kept from my parent's divorce, we set out over the sea to start our new life, though I would find out here I didn't have the best sea legs. From a rather humble life when as a young six-year-old growing up beside the coast and most of the land I knew being rather flat, you can imagine my stunned reaction when we first came into sight of the magnificent fjords that surrounded Arendelle as well the sight of the castle standing by the water's edge. I really hadn't seen anything like it and it was only just the beginning of our new life there.

The big problem that my Dad and me had was not only learning Norwegian, but also for somewhere to stay. The latter part I can't remember much of as my Dad was going about trying to find the perfect place in which he eventually found which was, not surprisingly, a house by the sea. The former I mentioned I do remember in which wasn't that good for me growing up as despite my best of learning, I did find it difficult even by the time I was nine and sadly found myself made fun of by some kids at school being known that foreign kid and sometimes, knowing I was Scottish, call out asking me 'where was my kilt?'

Seeing this, one teacher by the name of Olga felt sorry by my struggles and offered to try and help me by giving me home support in which my Dad had no trouble in letting this happen as with the times my Dad was away at sea, she became something of a mother figure much more than my own mother ever could be. I'm pleased to say that thanks to her that by a year later, not only had she helped me get better in speaking Norwegian, but it was during that time that my own Dad started to take an interest in Olga too.

While the view you think of Scotsman are a bunch of short tempered, whisky drinking and angry people, my Dad was anything but that and was always something of a romantic despite the tough job he worked at, and sadly this mindset might've led to him to an eventually doomed relationship prior with my mother. With Olga's pretty looks, blue eyes and blonde hair, she was the type of Scandinavian woman that the fisherman back in Scotland growing up remarked on being beautiful and Olga was the stereotype of just that. With those looks, it wasn't hard for my Dad to feel smitten by her and I'm happy to say that the feeling was mutual.

Dad and Olga would marry not long after and we still are a happy, tight little family to this day. But to get back on Arendelle, my new stepmother would tell me and Dad that the King and Queen of Arendelle had two daughters and that the gates to the castle were always open, then not long after when me and Dad first arrived in Arendelle, the gates were close for what felt like all the time with the curious situation that most of the servants working in the castle were relived of their jobs and only a few were to stay on.

This did lead to rumours going around the place that something was going on within the castle walls and no one ever saw the Royal children, especially the older of the two, Elsa, who for all we knew seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth as no one had seen her. Despite this, life did carry on as normal, though when I was seventeen, tragedy struck Arendelle in which many will know where I'm going with this. The King and Queen left by ship to head off to a Wedding in another kingdom (Corona I think it was called) and sadly, they never even made it to their destination as it was discovered their ship sank in a fearsome storm that no one had a chance of surviving.

Olga was especially devastated by this news, as were many Arendelle born citizens as the King and Queen were well regarded and loved by all. While me and Dad weren't that familiar with the Royals and didn't share the same connection, we still felt sad over what had happened, and the next three years would be a state of flux for Arendelle as a group of councillors would rule over the land until Elsa was twenty-one and thus, she would be the new Queen of Arendelle when that time came.

After those few difficult years, the day of Elsa's coronation arrived and to say everyone in the town was buzzing would be an understatement as after all that had happened, the people needed something to celebrate about. For such a special occasion, my Dad suggested that me and him should be decked out in full kilt and regalia for such a day, representing our clan Fergusson, and I will say we did turn many heads with our gear on, all good fun indeed.

Then well into the night as everything seemed to be getting into full swing, it all started to snow…in _July_. Before we knew, snow started to cover the whole Kingdom and the sea bay outside of Arendelle froze over with many ships out there now suddenly trapped and nowhere to go. That latter mention was quite a scary thought as my Dad was due to go out to sea for a fishing trip but decided not to go due to the Coronation. The thought of my Dad trapped out there with nowhere to go was a scary thought I wouldn't dare wish on my worse enemies.

But it is here on the final day of this strange winter that our story begins.

It was a cold, miserable and even dire situation as Myself, Dad and Olga all gathered round the fireplace trying to keep warm as the sun rose over a frozen Arendelle, the fire now clearly about to die out at any moment. Even though that Prince Hans, the young Southern Isles Prince who Princess Anna had left in charge while she'd set off to find her sister, had opened the gates to the castle to allow the citizens to go out and find food and supplies, neither of us had dared to leave as we all feared that with the temperature dropping at such a rate that we might die of sudden frostbite.

Even as I turned back to the frost covered window and could see not a soul out there, very likely that everyone else had the same thought as we tried to keep warm.

"I cannae stand this no more," Dad shivered as he wrapped his arms close to him.

"There's nothin' we can't do, Dad," I replied meekly. "Hopefully the princess will do what she can, and we'll be alright after this."

"Then what about the horse then?" Olga asked, her eyes with looks of fear in them. "Did you hear about her horse coming back on its own? You don't think…lord I hope not."

"Not sure about that," I sighed, and we all fell silent again as we stared at the fireplace while I tried to figure out what to say next. "Is there anythin' we can talk about to take our mind o' this weather?"

Dad turn to look at me with his dull green eyes staring back me. "That's a bit difficult lad when we're all freezing oor tits aff here."

"Andrew!" Olga hissed.

"It's alright, Olga," I replied. "I don't blame Dad thinking of that. What can we do…mind you, what'd you think about this Prince Hans lad?"

"Funny you should say that," Dad replied as he rubbed his thick brown brunette beard in thought. "He seems a nice lad helping us out an' all, but…I'm getting a funny vibe from 'em."

"What'd you mean?" I asked.

Dad shuffled on his seat looking to both me and Olga. "You did hear about how this whole winter was partly doon to him and Princess Anna? Story goes that the Princess got engaged to the lad after less than a day…as in, on the night o' the _coronation_ for God's sake. Thus the Queen threw a fit and caused all of this, cannae say I blame her if I found oot my sister was planning tae get married suddenly."

I nodded as I began scratching my thick brown hair. "Yeah…it did seem rather daft for her to do that. Then again, he must be just as daft to pop the question like that…guess that's true love?"

"Bloody wrong there, Aiden!" He snorted. "I was hearin' from the lads at the docks on the day of the Coronation that we weren't expectin' an official party fae the Southern Isles, then suddenly _he_ shows up on these shores. Unannounced…somethin' is up fae sure."

Me and Olga looked at each other as we thought over my Dad's words. As I've mentioned before, my Dad was quite a romantic minded fella and you might've thought he would've loved this, but when he was calling out on something like this, that did say a lot how strange the situation was the more we thought about it.

"So…what could be his motivation for being here?" Olga asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Other than to find a ditzy Princess to be his bride and maybe throw a massive drinking game to celebrate his wedding, I've got no clue."

Then it all happened, just as my Dad was about to seemly have a giggle at my joke. The door burst opened suddenly, and we thought there was a sudden gale that had blown our door wide open.

At first, I got up and prepared to walk up to the door to close it and hoped we'd keep the heat in as much as we could, but oddly neither of us did feel any blast of cold air rushing in. What we didn't expect however was a sight that defy any form of rational human explanation…next to a Queen having ice powers of course.

There sliding, on it's back and into our sitting room right behind us, was something white and lumpy. The strange white thing then stood up and there standing in our sitting room, standing at waist height, with three black buttons running up its front, two sticks for arms and three for what I thought was hair, a carrot nose and, most scary of all, a set of human-like eyes, was a snowman. A living, breathing and walking _snowman_.

"Hello!" It suddenly said to us with a cheerful wave and cheesy grin.

"IT'S ALIVE!" Olga screamed so loudly that I'm sure everyone in the town heard and that was the cue in which snapped us out off our state of shock and we all cried in in shock and ran for cover with Olga heading towards one side of the room to hide behind one of the chairs while me and Dad bolted over to hind under the staircase.

When we got there, we were breathing heavily and trying to make sense of what we had just seen. "It's okay guys!" The snowman called out. "This thing _kinda_ happened before, except you guys didn't kick my head off, but that's ok!"

"What in God's name is _that_?!" Dad hissed in fear, his eyes wide as saucers.

"How the hell should I know?" I asked, not daring to have a peak from under the stairs. "What'd supposed to do with a walking snowman?"

"Simple," Dad muttered. "You kick the wee bastard intae the fire there!"

"Are you guys ok?" the Snowman called out again, but neither of us made a sound, and I feared how Olga was faring on her own back there.

"Get the bible," Dad motioned pointing upstairs.

I raised a look of bewilderment at him. "… _What_?"

"Dae what I say, get the bloody _bible_!"

"For what? You goin' throw it at the snowman's head and hope God helps us?"

"No ya daft numpty! We get it to read a passage fae it that might help us oot to tackle a situation like this!"

I was stunned by this crazy idea, then again what are you supposed to do when you encounter a living and breathing snowman in your house? "…But we don't have a bible, Dad, and I never thought you were relg—"

"This is a serious situation laddie! We're going die—"

"Oh, there you guys are!" Came the snowman's voice, though this time it wasn't coming from the hallway but rather, right there in front of us under the stairs. In our argument, the snowman must've followed the sound of where we were, and we held each other close staring up close, within a few feet away from us was this snowman with a carefree smile on its face with also showing to have two buck teeth on its mouth.

It then raised it's stick like arms up at us. "Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs." Me and Dad didn't know what to do as sat there huddled like two frighten kids at this _Olaf_. He held his arms out for us as if he was inviting to hug us, then slowly I stood up, despite protests from my Dad and shakily shook Olaf's left stick arm as a sort of handshake.

"Oh, handshake, that's new," Olaf chuckled seemly enjoying this. "And you are…?"

"Um, Fergusson," I muttered as I pulled my hand away. " _Aiden_ Fergusson…well this is, all rather strange."

"And who's that guy there?" Olaf pointed out to my Dad behind me, now looking more confused than scared at what was happening.

"That's my Dad," I replied. "Andrew is his name. And the woman back there is my stepmother, Olga."

"Did I hear his name was Olaf?" Came the voice of the aforementioned person somewhere on the other side of the room.

"Aye, what about it?"

"Funny I should say this but…I had a Grandad called Olaf."

We didn't say anything as me and Dad looked back at what we could now see was a snowman that was not some demon sent to kill us or something. But why? "Look, _Olaf_ , how were you made why are you here?"

"Elsa built me," he replied cheerfully in a tone that was starting to find oddly comforting.

"You mean the Queen can now create life and raise the dead?!" My Dad spluttered in shock. "What is this bloody world comin' tae?!"

I though was trying to keep a rational head over the fact of what Olaf was saying and the fact I was having a conversation with a snowman of all people. "I see, guess it explains how you're alive, but why are you here?"

The snowman's look suddenly fell flat, and he looked rather worried. " _Well_ , you see…we were heading on our way back with Anna and—"

"Hold on, lad," I interrupted upon hearing the princess' name and knelt down beside him. "What about Anna?"

The little snowman carried on speaking. "Elsa struck her with her ice powers…it was an accident! She didn't mean it! But Kristoff and Sven knew where to take her and help her cure her."

I looked back over to my Dad and then over to my stepmother who by now had cautiously rose up from his previous hiding spot and slowly made her way over to the staircase to make a cautious look at Olaf. "Who's Kristoff and Sven? Never mind, what happened next and…is Anna alright?"

"We took her to see Kristoff's family," Olaf then spoke again. "They said that an act of true love could help thaw a frozen heart, so Anna must kiss Hans otherwise…she'll freeze forever"

The snowman now looked really concerned, even tearful I'd say about Anna's plight and my family all shared looks of apprehension as it sank in what was happening.

"Where is she then?" Dad asked.

"I got separated from them," Olaf replied. "They were heading to the castle, I fell off, slid down here, found you guys and…well, y'know. Do you know where the castle is?"

I stood up and motioned him to follow me. "Come on lad, I'll point it out for you." With that, we left my Dad and Olga behind as I led Olaf to the door he had previously burst through. As soon as we got outside, I was greeted by the cold biting air of the winter and I could feel that it was getting colder by the hour.

"Where is it?" Olaf asked which snapped me out of my thoughts and I walked around a corner of the house and pointed over toward the castle directedly ahead of us. "Oh, _that's_ it! Can't miss it I guess," he chuckled and began to walk off, but not before giving me a friendly farewell wave. "Bye, Aiden! Thanks for the help and hope we get to see summer soon!"

With that said, he headed off towards the castle and I stood there watching him head off to find Anna. I watched him head off further for a bit before I turned around and headed back indoors to keep warm, but as I was about to enter the house, I caught sight of two figures heading away from the castle having just crossed the long bridge that connected the castle to the town.

One of them was a large bulky blonde man, dressed in thick winter gear that looked more like rags that anything, was followed by a reindeer that glanced back at the castle at times. Both looked depressed, though it was the man that looked utterly heartbroken over something that did make me feel sorry for him. I couldn't help but think back to Olaf about him talking about Kristoff and Sven and I had to wonder if these two were the pair in question that had helped Anna get here. Was Anna back safely at least?

I did consider calling out to them if they needed help. But seeing how sad they looked and thinking that they needed to be alone, I decided against it and headed back in doors as I tried to think over the last few minutes over what me, my Dad and stepmother had just seen and heard. Little was I know that that fateful day was to be start of how I found myself working up in the castle and how my life seem to take a rather peculiar turn.

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 **There we go, hope you like it and if so, the next chapter will be of Aiden getting a job and a meeting with a certain redhead princess. Until then, see you soon.**


	2. Enter Princess Anna

**Update and I'm happy to see we have a good start here, thanks for the encouragement. Anyway, this chapter I think isn't as good as there is a bit of set up here, anyway, here we shall meet up with Princess Anna and will it all go well for Aiden? Find out!**

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 **Chapter 2**

 **Enter Princess Anna**

Within a few hours since me and my family first encountered a walking and talking snowman named Olaf, things all changed for the best for Arendelle. Elsa returned to Arendelle, saved her sister and brought back summer. Also, I shouldn't forget to mention that we all saw from our house once winter had vanished, Anna went out and punched Prince Hans in the face and sent him tumbling into water below. ("Weren't they supposed to be engaged?" Olga has asked in shock at seeing this.)

Turns out though that my Dad's suspicious on Hans' actions seemed to be true as he had planned to marry Anna, kill Elsa first then Anna and take the throne for himself. Thank God that nightmarish idea didn't come to pass and instead, the backstabbing Prince was sent back to the Southern Isles in disgrace, and yeah, Anna never got her truth love's kiss to help her from her freezing state, but I'm sure many of you will have heard of what went on behind those castle doors. Speaking of which, something else happened in Arendelle that hadn't happened in years…the doors to the castle were _finally_ opened for all to visit.

Olga was especially delighted by this as she could remember when there was a time prior when the gates were opened for all of Arendelle's people to visit and that first visit to the large courtyard for us, in which Elsa had turned into a large ice rink thanks to her magic, would turn out to be a happy event for all of us. Except that me and Dad both fell on our asses constantly while we tried to ice skate to the point when neither of us could get up even when we tried assist each other which turned into quite a humorous scene for the others watching these two strange Scotsmen.

Plus, it didn't help the fact it was also the first time we actually saw the two Royal sisters in the flesh and even though they were there in the distance, they could see us making fools of ourselves and for what was technically the first encounter with our rulers, it was hardly the first best impression you could want.

Three weeks after what we now call the Great Thaw, life seemed better for all of us and everyone seemed generally positive about the future of the kingdom in compared the dark years some years prior. That summer was particularly quite a hot was a very welcomed change to the freezing nightmare we had to endure before, so I spent most of the time taking in all the summer sun and frankly doing nothing all day. Yeah, sitting in the blistering sunshine on a bench overlooking the harbour with a mug of beer by my side seemed to be a perfect life in my opinion.

It was afternoon when I felt myself dozing off on the bench when suddenly I heard footsteps to my side which was followed by someone clearing their throat as if they wanted attention. Looking to see who made the sound, I saw it was my Dad with his arms crossed.

"There ye are lad," he said. "Might've thought you'd be here."

"Why not?" I asked with a grin. "With the sun out and views like this, what more could a man ask for?"

He smiled briefly before sitting down alongside on the bench before I spoke again. "So…what's up?"

Dad's expression changed to one of concern and he sighed. "Look Aiden. I never ask much fer ye and that yer a good laddie and I've been good tae ye but…my and yer stepmother have been sayin'—"

"That I need a job," I muttered with a tired nod.

My Dad looked surprised. "What'd she say tae ye?"

"No, she hasn't said anythin'," I corrected. "Though I've heard voices between you and Mum about how it's getting quite hard at sea right now."

Dad looked sadden as I said that. As much as I said above that things seemed to be going well for Arendelle now that Queen Elsa was on the throne, some things weren't all that perfect and one of these was my Dad's work. Even before the Great Thaw and Elsa's Coronation, my Dad had made remarks to Olga about how the fish stock was looking lower than it should've been and that the money he should've made from it was looking quite poor and the sudden freeze over hadn't help matters even with it causing problems with the eco system or whatever you call it.

I didn't really take this to heart at first thinking that it was just a bit of bad luck Dad had gotten, however this carried on and just a few days before the Coronation and just after Dad had returned from yet another disappointing fishing trip, I could hear from his and Olga's bedroom (the walls in our house weren't really that good at being soundproof) of Dad lamenting to Olga how it was now looking really bad for the future of his job. That itself made me realise just how tough things were getting for us, I really couldn't simply do nothing anymore and had to help.

Granted my stepmother got some money in from her job as a teacher, but it was nothing compared to what Dad would bring in, if things went to plan that is. The truth was simply in order to get things back on track, I had to get a job somewhere in Arendelle.

My Dad had always dreamed of having me working alongside him at sea and having a wonderful farther/son bonding, however that dreamed died a death when on our crossing to Arendelle and on some the rare times he brought me out to sea to experience it, it was found out that I didn't have the best sea legs and couldn't stomach the choppy waves. It was something that my Dad felt heartbroken that his dream could never be a reality, and even if I didn't have that problem, this whole low fish stock troubles we were experience that summer was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. Now I had to find something else.

I looked over at Dad with his dull green eyes looking melancholy. "Look Dad…I want to help, believe me. I will admit I've been lazy for all my life and…now that I'm twenty, I should've gotten a job long away."

" _Sixteen_ when I started work," Dad muttered with thought, "and I'm noo fifty two and still dain' the same bloody job, funny that."

"Thing is…what could I work for, Dad?" I asked having no general clue as what to do. I had the odd brief job as a store assistant here and there when I was straight out of school, but nothing you'd call a career.

It was at this point my Dad gave me a smile and patted me on my shoulder. "I might have the solution laddie. Ye remember what Olga told us years ago that the former King and Queen got rid of many servants workin' in the castle?"

"Aye…aye I remember now that you mention that," I replied as it came back to me. "Think it was due to them tryin' to hide Elsa's ice powers at the time. What's goin' on then?"

"News is that Queen Elsa is plannin' to bring jobs for people to work in the castle, with interviews carryin' oot tomorrow." Dad explained all this with a tone of hopefulness in his voice. "Aiden, this might be made fae ye. I bet ye they'll be looking fae strong lookin' lads like yerself."

"Strong?" I laughed in disbelief. "Look at these arms, I've got less meat on me than a bloody chicken leg!"

This made us both chuckle before I spoke again. "But Dad, had I known sooner that I had to go tomorrow for it I've would've, but I think I need to book a spot if I want to get in. Too late now for it… _right_?"

My Dad maybe both tough and romantic minded, but by God could he be a crafty old sod when he had to be, he then pulled a folded bit of paper and opened it up to reveal a letter before handing it over to me. "Funny you should say that laddie..."

I read it through and there is was, a letter inviting me to attend the interview, along with several other hopeful candidates, at eleven tomorrow morning. At first, I thought it was a hoax letter that he had made up himself as some poor prank, until I saw on the bottom right of the letter was the Royal Arendelle stamp which pretty much made it clear that this offer was legit.

I looked back at my Dad, now with a cunning smile and winked at me. "Askin' without my permission to attend?" I asked in mock tone. "Ye sneaky bastard, some would call this child abuse, sendin' your own son out on somethin' he didn't ask for."

We both laughed again at this before Dad replied, "so are ready for it then?"

"Well, guess I've got to prepare myself for it," I answered as a placed my hands on my thighs and thought about it more.

"That's grand, son," Dad smiled as he stood up and prepared to leave me on the bench. But there was one thing I had to say…

"Um, Dad."

He turned around, "aye what is it?"

I didn't say anything at first, but I stood too and pulled him in for a hug. "Thanks Dad…I owe you one."

"Oh, naw son," he uttered. "Just get the job and that's that." And now I had to get myself ready for an unexpected visit back to the castle for tomorrow morning.

After so many late wake ups' in the morning through this summer, it was quite a difficultly to suddenly having to wake up at nine in the morning, though it was mostly by Dad yelling at me to wake up and get dressed.

The rest of the previous day was me going over with Olga how to conduct myself at an interview, all very rushed and a bit all on the fly due to the lack of time I had. Ideally, me and Olga would've liked at least a week's notice, but my Dad was never quite the one for preparing for a lot of time, but I really shouldn't be saying that about considering he how managed to find this opportunity for me.

It probably wasn't a bad thing that today had to be interview day that after all the summer sun we had gotten over this period, it just so happen to be quite cloudy today, so I didn't have any excuse for trying to sneak off to some part by the sea to relax in the sun. Wearing my long black coat, grey tartan flat cap and my lucky matching tartan scarf, I set off with the hope I might get lucky. I know it sounds silly for me to wear a scarf in summer, but I always found it something of a good luck charm whenever I had to do something, and it had proven _especially_ useful during the Great Freeze for, no surprise, obvious reasons. Then again, it was all down to me to make a good impression and I couldn't rely on some charm.

The only way to describe things as I walked along the stone bridge that led to the castle was almost akin as to being like your first day at school as I really didn't know what to expect. Pretty soon I began to rub shoulders with who I can assume were some of the candidates all hoping to land a job working in the castle and as I entered the courtyard, it was filled with a motley amount of people being either servants rushing about, merchants trying to get a deal over something or, for the most part, general people who all seemed to want to experience what was behind these closed doors after so long.

Compared to those days when no one was allowed in, it was a far contrast to see how willing the two Royal sisters seemed willing in let _all_ Arendelle's citizens in. I didn't know exactly know where I was going, so I just followed the large crowd that was heading to what I can only describe as a workman's entrance that was tucked to the side of the main doors to the castle. I did briefly think then if I'd be able to go through those doors one day, but that wasn't really something worth thinking about as I took one last glance at the courtyard before we all entered through that door.

As you might expect of it being a workman's entrance, it wasn't really royal-like you'd say and I there wasn't much to say about it, but that wasn't really a problem, the fact is that I was inside a castle for the first time was something of a thrill personally for me. We went through a few twisty and dark corridors until we arrived at what I can only describe as some sort of waiting room and it was here that everyone sat by the chairs lying up against the walls or stood around and chatted loudly to each other over how they felt being here; it was clear early on that many of the people here seemed to all know each other while I pretty much knew none of these guys, so I sat on one the chairs to avoid attention.

In the middle of this, a servant woman could be seen making her way through the crowd and asking of the people here and there asking their names and marking them down on a scroll of paper and I did the same once the woman asked for my name. After she was done, she headed off down another corridor and left us all there all to await what would happen.

It didn't take long until a fairly, big man with balding brown hair that covered only the side and back of his head as well as having quite a large nose. By the way he was dressed in with a green jacket over a brown waistcoat pretty much gave away that he worked in the castle and many other the other hopeful candidates all seemed to realise this as many eyes turned towards the man.

"May I have your attention please!" Called out the man in which many stopped their chatter and listened for what he might have to say. "Thank you all for coming today, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Kai and I'm the Overseer of this castle, as some of you are quite aware many years ago, the former King and Queen of Arendelle reduced number the staff working here due to the safety of the then young Princess Elsa over her powers."

He paused briefly as we all listened intently, and he pulled out a small scroll that was just visible from one of his pockets. "However, following the Coronation of Queen Elsa and the reopening of the Gates, it has come to the agreement by her majesty that times have changed one again and more servants are needed to help ease the burden on those currently working here." He then opened the scroll and eyed it up briefly. "We intend to make this quick and we shall be going through your names alphabetically. If you are called up then you'll follow me, good luck all."

He called the first name out, I couldn't remember who as I was still somewhat taking in the fact that I was here inside Arendelle's castle and that _real_ Royalty lived here. Most of the chatter died down other than in some pockets of the large room and here I began to take in most of the chamber's look, along the wall were a few lit candles giving off some light in the room. It was then I noticed that for some reason, much of the people here waiting for their respected interviews all looked much older than I was, either in their forties or fifties if I was to hazard a guess, and the only younger one here I could see was a woman who looked to be in her thirties.

I did feel somewhat out of place and I had the sudden thought that maybe most of these people were the very same people who had been relived of their jobs years ago and now they wanted them back. It made my heart sink that favouritism might be at work here and that didn't include the fact that I had no idea just _who_ I was supposed to interview.

" _We might be up the creek here, Dad,"_ I thought sadly and began rubbing my scarf feebly as if it were to suddenly bring me luck.

I then noticed that the interviews seemed to go quite fast at about six or seven minutes at a time as I stared at a Grandfather clock in the corner of the room and those who finished their interview had looks of relief or excitement, being quite obviously the ones who had secured a job, and the ones who didn't came back into the room and left the chamber looking all very disappointed at it all, though it seemed interesting that so far our of the fifty something people here, only a handful looked as if they had succeeded and that didn't help my confidence that I had a chance.

Finally, I heard my name. "Fergusson, Aiden," called Kai and a stood up and headed over toward the Overseer who awaited me.

"Good day, sir," I greeted the man by tipping my cap at him as he led me down another corridor where I was to meet whoever it was to see me.

"Same for you too," Kai smiled. "I seemed to hear your father help secure you an interview, am I right?"

"Aye, that's correct," I smiled. "Bit of a surprise he did this for me. But anyway, may I ask who I'm seeing?"

Kai gave me a warm look as he led me to a white door where I assumed was the interview room. "Oh, don't worry son…just Princess Anna."

"Ok that clears that…what?!" I felt myself shudder at the sudden prospect that I was to come face to face with royalty. Of course, I knew I'd be seeing them if while I was to work here, but to _interview_ you? "Y-You mean that? How is she doin' it?"

The overseer gave a small titter. "Well to be honest, it was the Princess who wanted to do it and the Queen seemed to have no trouble in letting her take part in this, I believe the two sisters seem to trust each other very well if you ask me."

I was stunned at all of this, I was going to be questioned by the same woman, no, _princess_ , who got engaged to someone she just met that _day_ …for a bloody **servant** job! You couldn't make this up and I'm sure I had a stunned look as Kai seem to chuckle at my reaction and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"Have no fear son," he said with reassurance. "She's quite casual and if you just be yourself then you should be fine. Good luck Mr. Fergusson." With that said, he turned and walked away, but not before he called back saying, "nice hat and scarf by the way!"

Those words did take my mind of the situation briefly before I looked back at the white door and gathered my thoughts before I entered. "Alright then," I muttered to myself, "just be yourself." With that said, I knocked on the door in which I heard a female voice from behind the door saying, "Come in!"

No turning back now, so I opened the door with a shaky hand and there sitting by a desk and looking rather bored with a large tray of… _chocolates_ on the desk, was the Crown Princess of Arendelle herself, Anna.

In split second from the moment I entered the room, she went from a jaded expression and instantly seem to light up as soon she saw me. "Um…greetings, your highness," I stuttered as I took off my flat cap and gave a polite bow. "It's a pleasure to—"

" _Finally,_ someone close to my age!" Anna cried out with happiness as she clapped her hands together. It was also then realised that she was wearing the same dress she wore during the time Elsa made that large ice rink in the courtyard, which in turn made me cringe at my slipping fails.

I was left standing in the middle of the room with no idea how to respond to what I just heard. "Err…ok, thanks I guess?"

It only seemed to occur to the princess that I was standing there looking like a confused soul and she quickly snapped out of her thoughts and got back on topic. "Oh! Right...sorry, sorry keeping you standing there, please have a seat." She pointed to a wooden chair on the other side of her desk in which followed suite as she continued speaking. "But as I was saying, so nice to have someone close to my age here. Everyone else that as come through seem old and...wait, how many more out there are like that?"

I thought back at the chamber of hopeful sorts and bit my bottom lip. "Well, most of them seem quite old-ish I guess…sorry to say."

Anna groaned, shook her head and grabbed one of the chocolates to her side. "Ugh, sorry I'm acting like this, didn't anticipated how _boring_ sitting in this room could be. I didn't really think this through I'll admit."

For some reason, I smiled at this. She may have been royalty, but she seemed to act like any young woman I've met, and it did seem to ease any tension I had going into this. "No need to apologise your highness. I will say I was surprised to hear from, what's his face, _Kai_ , that you were willin' to meet us. Any reason may I asked?"

"Well it's simple really," Anna replied as she swallowed the chocolate she was eating. "In my view, since you are going to work here, I think it's better to know the person now rather than later. Like breaking the ice if you get me."

 _Quite a valid point._ "Aye, you have a point there…no pun intended though there regarding your sister."

The princess giggled once she realised her unintentional pun. "Yeah, that's right Mr…" She looked through the scroll on the desked and scanned the list of names down looking for mine. "Fergusson!"

"Just Aiden would be fine, your highness," I smiled.

She then gave me a rather curious look as if she was working out something and didn't say anything for a fair bit. "Fergusson…judging by your name and your accent, you're not from Arendelle, right?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm actually from Scotland originally, moved here when I was six with my Dad."

"Ooh! You're Scottish!?" She asked with childish wonder. "Never met many from Scotland, then again we haven't travelled in, well, forever."

"Hope I'm one of the nicer ones you've met," I chuckled. "But no, I like it here and seein' as I've lived here longer, suppose I could consider myself—"

"Wait a minute," Anna suddenly cut me off as she began thinking again.

"Is…something wrong, your highness?" I asked with an uncertain feeling going up my back.

"You look familiar…have I seen you from somewhere?"

 _Please don't mean the ice-skating thing._

"Yeah, it is you! You and that guy who couldn't get up on Elsa's ice rink!"

… _Ah shite._

Princess Anna began to laugh at the memory while I just sat there feeling rather embarrassed as she tried to compose herself but seemed to struggle, she had seen at first hand me and my Dad having a torrid time. "B-But…I remember it, me and Elsa couldn't stop laughing and…" she had gotten the giggles now while all I could do was roll my eyes at how well this was going. "Oh, I wish I could see it _again_!"

 _Ok, I'm dead in the water at this rate._

"Your highness—"

"But because of giving me the giggles and bringing joy to others, if you meant it or not, I'm willing to give you a place as a member of royal staff."

 _Oh aye, better go into—_ "Wait what?"

"I mean it," Anna replied with a friendly toothy grin. "You do seem a nice guy and would fit in well here. Besides, we do need more younger members of staff here. Do you accept?"

I stared at her slacked jaw, here, the crown princess of Arendelle, was offering me a place as a member of royal staff…over me acting for acting like an idiot on the ice, surprise she didn't think I could be the court jester or that. I Guess nothing was normal in Arendelle and I was reduced to silence at how things had turned out in all of this. "I…I don't know what to say…do you _seriously_ mean this?"

"Of course," Anna nodded. "Is something wrong, Aiden?"

"No, of course not," I replied. "Just that…is there somethin' I must do first or does your sis—I mean, the _Queen_ , has to do something to approve me or that?"

Anna bopped her forehead playfully. "Oh! I nearly forgot! Now you mention it, there is a few questions you need to ask before you can join, you know, all that sort of thing you have to do."

I shrugged my soldiers, this was the strangest interview I'd ever been part of and I wonder if my lucky scarf seemed to have any magic in it while under the table, I gripped my flat cap tightly. I was sure that Anna perhaps didn't know the exact way how to conduct an interview proper, but what did I care? If it meant I was getting a job then why should I question it all? "Um, sure your highness, fire away if you please."

Anna cleared her throat as she began the set of questions, now she bore a more princess look that was rather alien to the ginger haired princess I'd only just gotten acquired to. "Right then…first off, will you be able to get up early in the moment for services to me and the Queen."

"Yes, your highness."

"Will you be able to move into the castle, living alongside the other servants once you get this position?"

"Considering how Dad and Olga seemed to want me to move out anyway…sure thing."

"Will you report of any suspicious activities within the castle once you see them?"

"Yes." _So far so good._

Anna's face suddenly twitched into a mischievous grin. "Will you won't mind if you should ever encounter me and Kristoff having a courting session somewhere in the castle should you encounter both of us…?"

"Y—" I stopped dead in my tracks as I realised her strange question, and judging by the baffled look on my face, she playfully gave me a wink. "Um…no, do you have to do and…well." _Who's Kristoff?_

The princess giggled at my respond before she put on her serious princess face. "Finally, will you be able to put with sudden snow powers, strange magic, being asked for warm hugs, giving me chocolate whenever I need it and clean reindeer whenever needed?"

Now was the moment of truth. "Well…considerin' we just encounter a crazy magic snow storm in the middle of summer and that I'm willin' to put up with all that…alright then."

Anna's serious face, upon hearing my response, suddenly changed to one of great joy and she leapt up from her chair while clasping his hands. "PERFECT! Welcome, Aiden _Fergusson_!" She said my surname with some emphasis as if the thought of someone foreign working as staff in the castle seemed exciting.

I stood up and we both shook hands, though I could feel how excited Anna was by her tight grip on my hand. "T-thanks, Princess Anna…thank you for this."

"Oh, don't say that," Anna dismissed as she led me towards the door and it was here, I could see that up close, I was only about an inch or two taller than her.

"No really," I replied as she opened the door for me. "I do mean it…can't believe this is actually happenin'." _Even if it is slipping on your ass that helps you get places, but who cares now?_

"I think we're all going to get on _just_ fine here," Anna grinned as she placed a hand on her hip. "But anyway, now that you have passed the test, go and find Kai and he'll tell you what to do next."

"Alright then," I nodded. "Where is he now?"

But before Anna could respond, we heard another voice coming from down the corridor, one that was humming a merry tune and one that sounded familiar. "Hang about I know that voice…" I muttered, and I poked my head from the doorframe, and there strolling down the corridor without a care in the world was a certain snowman I happened to have brief encounter in my home. " _Olaf_?"

"Aiden!" Olaf cried happily as he rushed towards us, what I noticed then that hovering above his head was a small grey cloud that was raining little snow flakes on his head. I didn't have a chance to ask this before Anna spoke first.

"You guys know each other?" She asked glancing at both me and Olaf with a smile on his lips.

"Oh yeah!" Olaf answered happily. "When I got separated from you, Kristoff and Sven, I ended up in Aiden's home."

"Aye," I muttered, "and gave us heart attacks at seein' a living snowman for the first time." A thought came to my mind suddenly.

The little snowman didn't seem to hear me and carried on speaking towards Anna. "But he did help me find the way to the castle when I eventually found you."

The redhead princess now smiled at me. "This is getting better already, as you seem to know someone already here then I think you're ready to start soon as."

I nodded, though I drifted my eyes at Olaf as I began thinking. "Aye true but…"

"What is it?" Anna asked, her look now of confusion.

"This is the middle of summer, right?"

" _Yes_ …?"

"And the snow is supposed to melt, right?"

" _That's…right?"_

"Then how the _hell_ has Olaf not melted yet?" I would get my answer about that then, but it would be only the start of the many questions I would be asking myself while working in this castle. With Queens with magic powers and a funny little snowman walking about…I really couldn't believe what I was about to embark on, and next I would meet this _Kristoff_ …

* * *

 **There we are then, not too please with this one, but hopefully things will get better from here as the story starts to pick up now. Next update will be Aiden meeting Kristoff. I don't normally write an OC character and I'm hoping he's alright as I'm trying not to make him sound Gary Stu-ish or that. Anyway, hope you are enjoying it all so far and look forward to hear from you again. Also, any suggestions you might have for this story would be welcomed :)**


	3. The Ice Harvester

**It's time for another update. Sorry for not putting it up so soon, I've been busy with work plus I'm looking out to get a new car as my current one is somewhat showing it's age. But anyway, this is not only my first time writing Kristoff here, but also both Kristoff and Anna as a couple here. So if they might sound somewhat OOC I do apologise as, I mentioned, just my first time writing something in the world for Frozen. So anyway, let's tell the tale when Aiden first met Kristoff!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **The Ice Harvester**

After my successful yet rather unorthodox interview, I went over my final paperwork with Kai that made me an official member of royal staff. Following this, I was told that I was to move into the castle, albeit in the servants' quarters, within the next three days. Of the many that turned up and hopeful of a place to work there, I was only one of about seven who were to become the first new servants to work in the castle in thirteen years, those who were successful I didn't have the chance to meet at first as shortly after the interview, I rushed back home to tell Dad and Olga the good news.

As you can imagine, Dad and Olga were thrilled that I had been successful in getting a job and that I was to move out. However, I must say my Dad seemed a little _too_ keen that I was moving out as within a few hours after I told them the good news that day, he had already started to make a list of what was staying and what was going with me. His excuse what was that there was no time to waste and wanted to give me a head start, though I could clearly sense that it was only as he was wanting to get that alone time with Olga if you know what I mean…

Nevertheless, on the day it was time to move out I had with me a rucksack and a large trunk in tow. When I think about that moment, it seems rather funny as the way I looked would've made you think I was heading away on a far-flung voyage across the sea, not for a trip barely a mile away from my home. That all said, I still had to pinch myself that after seeing the sight of the castle for many years since living in Arendelle, I was going to be working and living _there,_ and it was all thanks to me and my old man falling about like idiots on the ice, who would've believed?

The first week though I will say was anything but memorable, bottom line, it was mind-numbing as hell. I never saw Queen Elsa or Princess Anna in that week as all I did was go through my tedious lessons on what to do and not to do as a servant and the jobs I was to do that first week were cleaning, waxing floors (something I'd find out Anna would use for a certain activity of hers) and collect errands from the town. The latter though I'd discover that had always bugged me for many years as when the gates were closed, how did they get supplies in? The secret that there was a smaller 'workman's' door nearby the main gates which led down a series of alleyways until you ended up in the main city.

For many years this was the only way in in those years of the castle's isolation and even when the gates finally reopened, many servants and workers I spoke too still rather use that way as with the main way through the main gates was now often being swarmed with many members of the public wanting to visit the castle. In some ways, it didn't seem like a bad idea.

That first week was one that I really can't remember much of and even if I did, you'd probably wouldn't want to know as it was just more about learning and all the boring stuff that goes along with it. It wouldn't be until the following week in which I could work by myself, rather than have some guy watching over my shoulder telling me what I was supposed to do. It did start to feel like a job then. Nevertheless, what made that week memorable is that I would finally catch up with the princess and meet the man she had started to court, Kristoff.

On that Tuesday late in the morning (almost twelve in the day I'd say), I was giving the butler duties of bringing Anna's breakfast to her, or rather lunch giving how Anna slept through the morning (something I would get use to during my time as a member of staff). As I headed down the corridor in which the bedrooms where, it just occurred to me that it was my first time being here and I took the opportunity to look around me. For a bedroom corridor, it all looked rather modest and homely, humble even.

I couldn't stay around there for long as I had to deliver Anna's now late breakfast and get one with whatever task I was given so I looked around trying to remember what Kai had told me was Anna's room. I did find it and with some difficulty trying to balance the food tray on one arm and close to my chest, I knocked on the door and hoping that she would be up.

"Who is it?" Came Anna's voice on the other side of the door.

 _At least she's up_

"It's me, Aiden," I replied. "Got your bre-err, lunch here."

"Thank goodness, I'm _famished_!" Anna chuckled, "please come on in!"

I pushed the door open and there I could see Anna, all dressed, sitting at her vanity mirror while she was doing final adjustments to her hair. "Good afternoon your highness," I greeted as I placed the food tray beside her on the desk. "You just up?"

"Only by just ten minutes ago," Anna smirked as she eyed the food then me.

Hearing this made me chuckle. "Really? Lucky you gettin' to have a long lie in while the others like me have been up since six this morning."

"But what would we do without you, _Jock_?" Anna remarked as the grabbed the toast and began to eat it in an un-lady like manner which made me chuckle at both the scene and what she'd just called me."

"Oh aye? Going down that path then?" I replied while crossing my arms.

"Come on, Aiden," Anna giggled as she just gulped down her breakfast. "Just a bit of fun now."

I shook my head in a jokily offended way. "Oh _sure_ …you know where I come from that is an insultin' term for us. Half of the time you expect it from an Englishman, not a crown princess of Arendelle mind you."

The redhead princess put on a playful smirk before I just noticed something rather notable in her bedroom. "You know your highness, you do remind me of the girls back home."

"As in being ginger?" Anna remarked pointing to her hair.

"Nope," I shook my head as I pointed out the mess of clothes lying on the floor. "I was meanin' as you have all the cleaning habits of them."

"Hey!"

At that point I couldn't help laughing at her reaction before she spoke up again. "Well, I did say I was up not long ago, and I didn't have time to clean…I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah, sure about that…anyway, I might as well do the tidyin' up. 'Tis my job after all."

"By royal orders as well," Anna added with a triumph smirk on her face.

Just as I was cleaning up, I did notice that she was wolfing down the food as fast as possible, quite amazing for a girl that size eating that quick. "Steady on your highness, no need to make up for lost time…is there?"

"But there is!" Anna piped up as she jumped off her chair and looked as excited as a kid at Christmas which left me confused, did I miss something?

"Huh? What's going on then?"

"Today's the day Kristoff returns!" The crown princess was full of energy that I swear she was going to start bouncing off the walls at any moment.

"Who again?" I asked while trying to jog my memory if the name sounded familiar.

Princess Anna placed her hands on her hips and put on a mock pout expression. "What? Don't tell me you forgot about Kristoff, you know, our official Ice Master and Deliver? You have met him, right?"

I could only look away sheepishly as folded up some of her clothes neatly. "Um, not exactly your highness." I could see looking surprised at my statement. "Hang on a minute, wait, wait, wait…oh…oh! _Now_ I remember the lad now! Sorry your highness about that it's just…I've been sort of trainin' on how to act a good servant so…I haven't really met anyone else, other than you and Olaf."

The redhead princess then seemed to have an idea. "Don't worry, suppose it's not a bad thing you're here as I can introduce you two for the first time!"

It did seem like a good idea, though I did have some thoughts. "Before we do meet him, is there anythin' I should know about him?"

"Only just a few things," Anna smiled. "As you might know, he is an ice harvester, has a reindeer friend called Sven, currently going out me, does smell badly mind you, can talk to reindeers and was raised by trolls…just the basics."

I could only place my hands on my hips, nod slowly and mutter the following. "…Right…talks to reindeers and has a family of _trolls_ …"

"You don't believe me?" Anna responded.

"Oh no, I do believe you," I answered. "Especially that thing with the trolls…in fact after knowing your sister has ice powers and seeing a walking snowman, I'm willing to believe almost _anythin'_ now."

She giggled at my response, but before she could reply, she then noticed something from the window that was behind me and she rushed over to see what had caught her attention. Whatever she saw in that moment only caused her face to light up like a Christmas tree and it did dawn on me on why she was looking so happy. "He's home! C'mere!"

With that and before I could say anything, she dragged me out of her bedroom by the hand and rushed down the corridor where she went on yapping on about Kristoff about how they met, what they had done since then and other various facts. Though personally I really didn't listen to that as I spent most of the time trying to watch my footing while crying 'careful!' at her.

It did nearly end in disaster when we got to the stairs and she pulled on a little bit too keen which saw me lose my balance and saw me tumbling down the stairs and by some miracle not breaking my neck in the process as I ended at the bottom with me lying on my back while Anna looked horrified at what she'd accidently done.

"Sorry!" Anna gasped as she helped me back on my feet. "Really, really sorry about that! Didn't mean to do—"

"It's fine, your highness," I groaned as I felt a sharp pain in my side. "Just show me the guy…ooh…"

 _The things I do for this bloody job._

Thankfully she didn't need to worry about my wellbeing for long as there out in the courtyard (the large doors already open) was the sight of a large reindeer pulling a sleigh with a familiar looking bulky blonde man on it. This would only lead to Anna to race off to see Kristoff while I followed behind, albeit more feebly due to my current state.

As I walked out into the sunshine, I could see that no sooner had the sleigh come to a stop, Anna galloped over to where Kristoff sat. " _Kristoff_!" She cried in a singsong voice as she leapt onto the large man with such force that it nearly saw him fall backwards off the sleigh.

Kristoff tried to speak as he held the princess close to him, "Anna I—"

But he never got the chance to speak as Anna wrapped her arms around the back of his next and she pulled him in for kiss that was so full of passion that the only thing I could do was politely look away and found myself looking at the reindeer, who I assume, according to Anna, was called Sven.

What surprised me by Sven was that he seemed to show a level of intelligence that I wasn't aware of in an animal as he gave me a look that almost seemed like he was saying ' _who are you_?'

Looking around, I didn't know what to make of the scene here as it was truly ridiculous. Here was Princess Anna of Arendelle making out with her boyfriend in the middle of the castle courtyard while I stood there looking like a lost soul with no idea how to respond. I did consider clearing my throat to get their attention, but just as I was about to do that, their kiss stopped.

"Anna…I've missed you," Kristoff finally said the words he'd meant to say before Anna caught him short, his strong arms were now wrapped round her waist as they both looked to each other's eyes.

"Missed you too _my_ ice harvester," Anna replied softly. As much as it was a tender scene and one in which I could feel the love they had for each other, it was clear that Anna had forgotten about me in that moment.

It was oddly enough that Sven of all would be the one to come to my aid as he made a grunting noise to get Kristoff's attention about my presence. The blonde man then saw me and looked shock to point at me as if I had just appeared out of thin air. "Anna, who's this guy?"

The princess glanced back at me and gasped at just remembering why I was here in the first place. "Oh! Aiden I'm sorry, Come on Kristoff!" She then proceeded to drag her partner off his sleigh by the hand in a similar fashion of what she had done with me not long ago.

As she dragged him next to me, I could see he was a head taller than I was and my first thought was not to mess with an ice harvester as Olga had told me various stories about them, most rather notorious. Despite this, Anna stood in the middle between me and Kristoff to begin the introductions. "Right then so…Kristoff, this is Aiden Fergusson, one of our newest servants, Aiden, this is Kristoff Bjorgman our Ice Master and Deliverer and my boyfriend, which you knew that of course _so_ …yeah."

Both me and Kristoff stared at each other not knowing what to do. Then I brought my hand forward and he did too, and we shook hands. "Good to see, Aiden," Kristoff greeted with some trepidation.

"You too, Kristoff," I replied, "Anna's told me a fair bit about you."

The blonde man pulled his hand back and raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, what has she said?"

"Just the usual stuff," I shrugged as I glanced at Anna. "Says that you helped her up the North Mountain, you harvest ice, have a pet reindeer and…" the smell that Anna had told me about was only starting to be felt. "Bloody hell, no disrespect, but you smell _awful_ , lad."

"None taken," Kristoff chuckled. "Has to be expected when you've been up the mountains for a whole week."

I glanced over to Anna who was now had Kristoff's arm on her shoulders. "I don't know how _she_ can put up with that smell," I laughed.

"I don't," Anna giggled. "But now you've said it, it's time to give him a bath."

"Knew you were going to say that eventually," Kristoff rolled his eyes. "I've only just got back."

"But I might have other plans for the bath to tempt you…"

Both me and Kristoff glanced at each at what she had in mind, then she whispered something in his ear. I don't know what was said, but whatever it was made the mountain man blush while Anna looked at him with a mischievous smirk.

"Alright, I don't want to know what know what she has planned," I muttered as I placed a hand on my hip and shook my head which made the couple laugh.

Kristoff then spoke again. "Mmm, appears Anna forgot to mention one thing to you that I also do." Both me and Anna looked at him with confused looks. "I do pick my nose and—"

" _Kristoff_!" Anna snapped which made me laugh at her disgusted reaction.

"You too as well?" I jokingly inquired. "Same here laddie, nice to make a friend over that!" We both chuckled and gave each other a high-five while Anna looked at us both in disbelieve.

"You two…" Anna groaned. "Well, suppose you've become friends over… _that_." But then that smirk appeared on her face as her eyes glanced up to her boyfriend and she wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled him down closer to her face where their noses were practically touching.

 _Good grief am I getting yet another front row seat to witness tongue wrestling from these two?_

" _Kristoff,"_ she cooed. "Remember…don't forget about your _bath_ …"

"Like I will," Kristoff grin. "Why would I turn down that offer anyway? Just let me get Sven to the stables first."

"Don't keep me waiting now," Anna tutted. "We really need to catch up on a lot of stuff…"

Once again, I looked away embarrassed. _"Get a bloody room for God's sake,"_ I thought awkwardly. They starting to act like my Dad and Olga...

"I won't be long," Kristoff replied, and he leaned in to give Anna a peck on the lips before he unwrapped his arms around her and watched her skipping off back into the castle in which she gave a sly wink over at her ice harvester before disappearing into the castle.

I stood there trying to figure out just what I'd just seen, and I saw Kristoff with a look of bless written over his face while Sven seem to roll his eyes at the scene. I had to say though for my first encounter with Anna and Kristoff, they did seem like not only a fun couple, but also loyal to each other, something my Dad would've no doubt approve of being the romantic that he was.

We were silent for a while before Sven bellowed out a groan for attention which brought Kristoff back to his senses. "Wha-? Oh, sorry, Sven. Let's get you back to the stables."

"Might as well help out," I added in which the large blonde man nodded and grunted in agreement as we followed Sven dragging the sleigh back to the stables. I decided to speak up then. "So…you just started like, what, a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah," Kristoff nodded as he led Sven to park the sleigh in its position. "Queen Elsa gave me the title of Royal Ice Master and Deliverer as a thanks for helping them out."

"Is that really a title?"

"Hardly, if you ask me, it was something they made up for me."

I smiled just as we parked the sleigh and began to take off all the belts and buckles off Sven. "Still, it must be a nice thing that you've won the heart of a princess in all of this."

"Still trying to get over it myself," Kristoff answered. "If you'd told me even a few weeks ago this would've happened to me, I'd laugh at you, but now…"

Sven grunted happily as we finished getting his straps off and began leading him to his stall in the stables, then Kristoff spoke again. "But what'd about you then?"

"Just started last week," I answered. "Spent most of that week studying and that, not fun and I don't know if you had to deal with that."

He shook his head slightly. "No, I didn't, sorry to hear that. I'm away most of the time up in the mountains and I never really meet up with the other royal staff. Come to think of, you're actually one of the few guys working here I've actually had the chance to get to know better."

"Lucky you," I uttered. "Working alone sounds not bad, my Dad is a fisherman and is out nearly most of the time…things are tough lately mind you for him, low fish stock and all." I went silent as I thought about my Dad's predicament and why I had gotten this job.

"Sorry about that, buddy," Kristoff sighed, "hope he's ok."

"Hope things pick up soon," I replied as we led Sven back into his stall where he grunted happily and bounded in more like an excited dog rather than a reindeer due to seeing the fresh straw that had been placed in there earlier that day. "Well…he looks rather happy."

"Almost," Kristoff corrected as he went into his satchel bag on his side which revealed itself to be full of nothing but carrots. He then presented one to Sven who happily chomped on half of it before, and I'm not making this up, Kristoff took a bite out of the carrot himself and seem to show no care about personal hygiene.

 _Anna seemed to forget about mentioning_ that _to me._

I couldn't believe what I had just seen as they took turns eating the carrot. My stepmother, Olga, was always about keeping clean, healthy and all that and I'm sure if she'd witness what Kristoff had been doing with Sven, she'd most likely flip her lid at the mere sight of it.

"Are you alright, pal?" I asked with morbid curiosity.

Kristoff, who was half way eating on the carrot looked at me with a surprised look. "Yeah, why?"

"I…you know, never mind." Best not to question his way of living. "Anyway, I better be off back to work, I'll be needed no doubt. Anyway, was nice to meet you Kristoff."

"You too, Aiden," Kristoff replied with a nod of his head and even Sven did the same with a grunt. As I turned away and neared the exit of the stables, the ice harvester called me again. "You sound foreign."

 _Here we go…_

I turned around to face them. "Aye, I'm not from here, I'm actually from some place called Scotland…just over the sea to the west of here."

"Hang on," Kristoff said as he thought about it. "Is that a place somewhere in England?"

 _Oh dear…_

I would have to teach him a few things, but other than that, he seemed like a nice guy. Now all I had to look forward to was to finally meet with the Snow Queen herself, Elsa…hopefully she'd have a better sense of geography.

* * *

 **Never mind, Aiden. Anyway, hope this chapter was alright as I do find myself rather cautious in my writing skills and plot lines. Anyway, next chapter will be, as you'd probably guess, be the first encounter with Elsa. I'm also asking if you have any ideas to add to the story, I have plans to include Frozen Fever in this soon and what I have planned for the end, but any ideas from you readers for how to fill the middle in would be very much appreciated.**

 **Until then, catch you on the flip side.**


	4. Summer Time With The Queen

**Finally back with an update. Sorry for the delay, been busy here with the fact I've just gotten myself a new car and work has been quite busy of late. Other than that, I did managed to get this chapter out. Because of how busy I've been, I'm not quite sure if the quality is a good as the rest, so I apologise if this chapter isn't that good. Anyway, let's get on with the tale of when Aiden meets Elsa...!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Summer Time With the Queen**

It wouldn't be until two days after I first met Kristoff that I'd finally have the chance to meet with the Snow Queen herself, Elsa, though it perhaps couldn't come at a worse time. While the summer was now coming to an end that day in late August, it just so happened that it was the hottest day of the year, almost if this was like a grand finale for this year's summer, and by God was it really an uncomfortable day.

Even though it was late afternoon at that time of the day with the sun starting to set, Arendelle was still stiflingly hot. It had been one of those days when the shirt sticks to your back, even if all you are doing was sitting in a shady street-side café sipping a cool beer. The surrounding fjord had captured the day's heat like a cauldron and as I stepped out onto the battlements to get some fresh air (alas to no avail), I could see that there was hardly a soul out in the city as many had probably wisely wanted to stay indoors while those brave enough had gone to far as to have a swim in the _harbour_ , even with ships trying to dock for heaven's sake! Some people would do anything to keep cool and with this weather, how could I blame them?

I did wonder just what Dad and Olga were up to in this moment, hopefully Dad had something planned for them to get through this wretched heat. The last thing any of us Royal Staff members wanted was to work in all of this and I didn't stay out for long as I ran back inside to find a shaded section in the castle, but I had a funny feeling that I would be needed for something. How right I'd be.

It just so happened as I walked past the great hall and tried wiping off some of the sweat on my forehead and thick brown hair, I heard my name being called out and looking behind me, there I could see the castle overseer, Kai, with a thick stack of documents in his hands. I hurried over to him and greeted him. "How do sir, how's you been?"

"Just about coping," Kai grinned sheepishly. I could see that like me he had been sweating and could even sense that the hot weather was getting to him too.

"You and me both, sir," I sighed and then looked down at my untidy appearance. The green blazer jacket that you would be familiar for what us servants wear I had refused to wear that day to try and keep me cool, thus I was only wearing the olive green long sleeved shirt, in which I had unbuttoned the top few in order to let some air down, along with the brown waistcoat, black trousers and shoes. If you were to see me up close you would've seen the shirt, I was wearing nearly all soaked from my sweat which didn't do any good to keep me comfortable.

To say I was an untidy looking mess would be an understatement, though I could see that Kai had also ditched the green blazer too as it looked like we were all doing whatever we could to keep cool.

"Um…sorry sir about my appearance," I apologised. "I honestly didn't mean to sweat like a bloody pig."

"No need to be," Kai assured me. "Think everyone else in the castle is trying all they can to get through the day…hopefully it'll be better for tomorrow."

I nodded and pulled my collar out a bit to ease some comfort for myself. "Hopefully. But…yeah, you asked for me?"

"Well of course," Kai replied and glanced down at the pile of documents in his hands. "I'm needed to help with one of the guys downstairs, appears one of the servants has passed out from the heat."

I winced upon hearing this. "Damn, sorry to hear that."

"But for you," Kai added, "if you could deliver these documents to Queen Elsa for me then that would be a good help for me as I can help with whoever it is that is needing help. The Queen is currently in her study just to let you know."

I glanced at him and the documents before responding. "Uh, sure, aye will do…" Then it dawned on me who I was to see. "Hang on, I've to see the _Queen_?"

"Well of course," Kai replied as if it was the most normal thing. "Is…something wrong, Aiden?"

"No, no nothin' at all," I stuttered as Kai placed the heavy documents in my hands. "It's just that, well, I haven't met the Queen personally myself and…"

"Don't know what to expect?" Kai asked with a reassuring smile. I nodded awkwardly, though Kai chuckled. "Don't worry boy, she's very friendly and if you just act the way you are normally, I'm sure she'll like you."

 _Just be yourself…how original._

We didn't say anything for a moment until Kai cleared his throat. "Anyway, better let you on your way, know the way to her study?"

"Aye," I uttered. "Up near the bedroom corridor?"

"Good stuff," Kai replied. "Must be off to help with whoever's in trouble. Take care, Aiden." With that said, he headed off down the corridor and left me with a large stack of papers which I could only assume were for Elsa to look over and sign.

I didn't know how long I stood there for, but the thought of meeting the Snow Queen herself face to face filled with a great deal of apprehension with the mindset of what great power she was capable off. _"You'll be fine,"_ I thought to myself. _"Just hand these documents in and that's that…nothing else."_

With a shaky drawn in breath, I started making my way up through the many corridors to find the study. On the way there, the many windows in the castle were all open to try and help keep the temperature down, but they were having little success and there was nothing we could do to help.

It is at this point you might be asking yourself that with all this heat and humidity, why wasn't Elsa using her powers to help us battle the horrendous temperature? Truth be told is that today had been one that Elsa found herself bogged down in a large amount of treaties, papers and God knows what else she needed to sign due to finding herself behind on, now she was hoping to get as much of them done as possible.

And as you can see, that meant no help from the Snow Queen to help us out, hardlines I guess though ask of us and we'd wouldn't mind having another eternal winter if it meant seeing the back of this boiling hot day.

The only funny thing I could take from this was the irony of my first meeting of Queen Elsa as for a woman who was famous for causing an eternal winter across Arendelle, I just so happened to be meeting her for the first time on the _hottest_ day of the year. You couldn't make up some of these things, then again, that's just another day in Arendelle I guess.

It was after about five minutes of wrong turns and second guessing that I found the corridor in which Elsa's study was located. As I walked into the corridor, I stopped and found myself feeling rather edgy about seeing the famous Snow Queen. The thought that down this corridor was not only a real Queen I was meeting face to face, but the woman who also had not long ago placed a kingdom under a winter spell was quite a daunting thought the more I thought about it.

Granted I had been told by those who had seen her that she was a fair, wise and caring ruler who would do anything for her kingdom and people, but that didn't help me think what if I was about to do something wrong. If only Anna was here to support and tell me that everything would be ok, but today of all days she was out with Kristoff on a date up the mountains in which he had been planning on giving her following his trip from his ice harvesting work.

No support from anyone, I had to go it alone and hope for the best. But as I was making the final walk towards the door of the study, I heard a merry tune being sung by someone and turning around, there was our resident living snowman, Olaf. He was happily waddling along the corridor humming his little tune and didn't seem to notice me at first until he made an odd glance up in my direction.

"Hi Aiden!" He greeted happily as soon as he saw me and quickly hurried over.

"Afternoon, bud," I replied with a nod. "Seem pretty happy today, aren't you?"

The little snowman giggled. "It's summer of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you know," I muttered quietly. "Just some of us are feelin' a wee bit…stifled."

"You mean you're feeling hot?"

I didn't say anything and merely rolled my eyes at hearing this rather foolish statement. _"That would be an understatement,"_ I thought darkly. However, I spoke again shortly then. "Yes, Olaf. You'd be right there. Then again, I wouldn't mind havin' one o' those cloud things floatin' over my head like what you have, you're actually lucky to be feelin' fine, lad."

Olaf smiled and glanced up at his magic cloud flurry that was the one thing that was keeping him alive. It did then make me feel sad at the cruel irony for a snowman who loved summer had no idea that if it weren't for that little cloud over him, he'd melt, especially in this horrendous heat.

Poor little bastard; I didn't have the guts to tell of the doomed fate that might befall him and even if I had told him he'd probably wouldn't believe me. Guess the only thing I could do was keep quiet and say nothing.

He didn't seem to notice the look of concern on me and remembered something. "Hey Aiden, did you here about Anna and Kristoff?"

"Aye," I replied, "off on a date up the mountains, do you know where?"

"If I remember, Kristoff is taking Anna to a lake which only he knows where to get to," Olaf recalled then sighed happily at the thought of the happy couple.

"Is that where they're going?" I asked as I thought it through. "Must say that's not a bad idea with this weather an' all. Nothing with a wrong wi' a swim in summer in my opinion."

The little snowman then rubbed his head and had an inquisitive look on his face. "But there is one thing I couldn't understand from them."

"What's that laddie?"

"Why'd they leave their swimming gear behind? Did they forget it?"

"Maybe couldn't wait? Maybe they…" Then I paused as a sudden thought washed over me. Just earlier that day prior before they left, Anna did mention something between her and Kristoff during an intimate moment for them to have a bit of fun out there…

Off to a lake, with no swimming gear in tow and the way they were acting close before they left meant one thing and I think you can put two and two together and figure out what they were planning on doing up there.

 _Oh, that crazy princess._

The thought of them skinny dipping someone up in the mountain made me shudder yet grin at their boldness. I could only hope Elsa didn't hear about what was going on with their date and I could picture the scene of the Queen of Arendelle hearing about her baby sister running around stark naked with her boyfriend on some lakeshore somewhere up in the mountains with no care in the world.

Fair to say how Elsa might react to hearing this was probably a case of less said the better…

I didn't realise how long I had been standing there thinking about this when Olaf spoke up which snapped me out of my thoughts. "Aiden? Aiden are you ok?"

"Huh? W-Wha-? Oh, aye I'm fine," I answered.

"Why'd they forget their gear?" Olaf repeated his question from earlier.

I bit my bottom lip and looked at him with an anxious look. With him being so innocent, how was I supposed to tell him what was going on with Anna and Kristoff's date without scaring him for life? "Um…I wouldn't worry. I'm sure they would've found some trading post and got gear there…yeah."

Wasn't sure if my lie would work, but thankfully Olaf seem to buy. "Ok then, nothing—hey, I didn't notice that pile of papers your holding."

Even though they weighed a fair bit, the funny thing was that in the time I had to have a conversation with Olaf is that I had forgotten they were even there, and my eyes widened in realisation at this. "Oh! Err, aye, t-these are for El—I mean _Queen_ Elsa to sign."

"What are they for?" Olaf asked.

I simply shrugged my shoulders. "No clue, pal. It's not my business to…oh, Christ."

"What's wrong?"

I had glanced down at the documents briefly and I had noticed one or two wet blob marks on the top paper, and it became clear very quickly that the wet marks were in fact sweat that had dripped off my forehead. I felt my stomach turn to ice in that moment and any heat I felt had been drained out in that moment. "Christ almighty! I've really cocked up now!"

I knelt beside Olaf to show him what I had accidently done, but he didn't seem too bothered by this and grinned. "Come on, Aiden. She won't mind that."

" _Unless the person she will send that treaty off to does,"_ I thought fretfully. For all I knew, that document could've been the treaty for world peace and that now I'd ruined it for sweating like there was no tomorrow. This was not going to end well and for all I knew, this might've been my last conversation as a free man…with a bloody snowman for God's sake.

"Look, Olaf," I sighed sadly. "I best be off. Can't keep her waiting and…never mind."

The little snowman, clearly oblivious to the turmoil inside of me happily nodded and prepared to leave in the opposite direction. "Ok then. Good luck, Aiden!"

 _Good luck, how fitting those words are for a time like this._

I watched Olaf for a moment as he happily hummed his tune as he waddled down the corridor and leaving me alone with my thoughts. I stared over the door to the study and glanced back at the documents while trying drawing in a deep sigh, no turning back now.

With that, I headed over towards the door and after some difficulty trying to balance the thick papers onto one arm, I knocked on the door with my free hand. "Q-Queen Elsa," I greeted with a stutter.

"What is it?" I heard her call from the study.

I gulped before responding. "I…I have the documents for you to sign, your highness."

"Please come in," Elsa replied. Ok, time to face the music.

I opened the door and there sitting at her desk, with yet another pile of, what I assumed, signed treaties to her left, was the famous Snow Queen herself, Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Now at this point, any red-blooded man like myself would've immediately been smitten by her beauty and you didn't need to know why. With her slender and graceful figure, blonde hair styled in a nice braid look, crystal clear blue eyes, velvet like voice, that ice dress that hugged her curves nicely and those cool ice powers, it honestly wasn't hard for any young male to be infatuated by her.

Funnily enough though, that wasn't the first thing I thought when I saw her, two things came to mind.

One being that here was I standing in the vicinity with a real Queen, a ruler of a kingdom and for someone like me who hadn't met anyone famous until I started work here, that was really something to think about. The other thing on my mind was how I was supposed to tell her about the now ruined files on top here?

"Hello?" Elsa asked which awoke me from my thoughts.

"Um, aye, hello y-your highness," I stuttered and slowly walked over. "Err…here are the documents for you and…yeah."

I placed them down on her right side of the desk and stood there with no idea what to say, but I didn't need to start any conversation as Elsa started it as she eyed me curiously. "Wasn't Kai supposed to bring the papers here?"

I nodded in agreement, though I was still feeling edgy. "Aye that's right, b-but he has been called away for somethin' and he gave them to me to hand out f-for you." She then looked over at the papers I had dumped on her desk and it was there she noticed the few moist drops on the top document.

No way out, I had to come clean. "Um…about that, I'm _so_ sorry about that y-your highness, that's…my sweat. I-I didn't notice it at first and, oh jeez feel like an utter baw—"

"It's fine," Elsa reassured me as she looked at the document closely. "It seems that we have a duplicate that was sent here by mistake, already have signed the original version earlier. In fact…" She then started looking threw about fifteen other papers and shook her head. "It appears there has been a mistake somewhere, some of these are just merely duplicates. You can take these with you and tell Kai about this."

"Duplicates?!" I spluttered, then I felt a wave of relief wash all over me. "Oh, thank _God_ for that…!"

"Are you ok?" Elsa asked seeing as I looked like a man who had been giving a second chance of life.

"A-aye sure," I chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of my neck apprehensively. "But no worries, your highness. I'll take these down for—"

"Actually," Elsa suddenly interrupted which saw my moment of relief suddenly come crashing down. "You are one of the newer servants that have started working here, aren't you?"

I hadn't introduced myself to her, what a nutjob I am for not thinking that. "Yeah…your sister actually interviewed me to get a job here, though it was a rather strange interview if you ask me."

This made the Snow Queen giggle and she muttered something under her breath saying, 'Oh Anna' before she said anything to me. "What is your name?"

"Fergusson, Aiden Fergusson." I answered in which, not knowing royal protocols that well, gave a small bow. "Pleasure to meet you Queen Elsa."

"Pleasure is all mine too," Elsa smiled, then she wore a thoughtful expression as if something dawned on her. " _Fergusson_ …you're that Scottish person Anna has been telling me about."

"Has she? What about?" I asked with raised eyebrow.

"She seems to think you're a hard worker, though she doesn't stop talking about your…incident on the ice that day, no disrespect."

"None taken," I sighed, guess it was only a matter of time before me and Dad's embarrassment skating mishap was going to creep up sooner or later.

Elsa then bit her bottom lip over something, almost if she was afraid to say it. "And another thing, I hope Kristoff didn't make you angry about his geography problem with Scotland being a place in England."

"Naw, it's alright," I smiled. "Suppose no one is ever perfect."

Throughout my time living in Arendelle, that had always been a problem most seemed to have with where Scotland was. I would get angry at first but as the years went on, I simply accepted that people possibly didn't know the world beyond the North sea and over the fjords around Arendelle, and if you are wondering, no I didn't beat up Kristoff for his mishap (I wouldn't have even dared being how strong and big he looked) and I instead calmly corrected him.

See, us Scots aren't all short tempered as you might think!

"Let me guess too," I added. "Did Anna tell you by chance?"

"Who else?" Elsa chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

Not long after I told Kristoff the truth, we went off to find Anna and at first you might've thought the crown princess would've given her consort a right earful over his mistake, instead she found it to be one of the funniest things she'd heard in a while and thanks to her blabbering mouth, word got around the castle over this and many of my co-workers all seem to find the funny side in it while me and Kristoff didn't know who had it off worse. Me for being in the centre of attention or him for not hearing the end of it, either way I didn't want to talk about it.

"It's often a problem I've experience here," I shrugged. "Scotland isn't some place in England."

"Of course not," Elsa added. "Scotland is part of the United Kingdom which is also made up from the nations of England, Wales and Ireland. Plus, Scotland does have a Gaelic language too and various clans which I believe you clan, Fergusson, is one of them."

I stood there slacked jawed, never had I met a foreigner who seemed to know a whole lot about my native land and after all these years of correcting people, I was stunned into silence and didn't respond for a while until a big grin appeared on my face as well as a chuckle. "T… _Thank_ you Queen Elsa! Where can I find more folk like you who know so much?!"

She giggled my reaction. "Well as a Queen, you have to know these facts about other countries."

"That's true, suppose Anna must know a bit about the world too?"

Then Elsa remembered something. "Speaking of which, you do know where Anna is on her date with Kristoff?"

At that point I tensed up, I was hoping this wouldn't come up. "Well, not really, somewhere up the mountains if I remember…Sorry, no idea where they've gone."

I didn't like to lie in front of the queen, treason I'd guess it would be, but thankfully she seemed to buy it. "No worries, Aiden. I know Kristoff will take care of her, as long they aren't trying to run around naked on some lakeshore then we're good."

 _Oh, heaven help us._

I rubbed the side of my head feeling nauseous at the truth. _"Was nice knowing you, Kristoff,"_ I thought sadly and tried to change the subject around when I saw the documents on the table, both me and Elsa having forgotten about them. "Um, your highness…don't want to sound rude or that but…what are all these documents for?"

The Snow Queen looked over the many files on the desk and pulled out one from the pile I had given her. "A lot really, since Arendelle has reopened to the rest of the world, we've had many requests opened up for new trading partners to help us modernise."

"Aye? Quite a lot for all of that."

"That's only just a fraction of it. The others here are of several kingdoms wishing to visit and of potential suitors for me to see…" She trailed off sadly as she clearly looked unhappy at the latter part. "Others are about the summer winter we had with many demanding that something like that happens again, I'm afraid to say it did cause problems with the wildlife and nature."

I remained quiet and started to feel sorry for her, she was only a year older than me yet she not only the responsibility of running a kingdom, but had to go through all these pointless and endless treaties to sign off and I honestly don't know anyone that age who could cope to do all that when for the last thirteen years she had lived her life behind a closed door. Just wasn't fair really.

"Your highness," I asked. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

She looked over at the duplicate papers and handed them over to. "Just as a mentioned before, hand these to Kai and that'll be that."

"As you wish your highness. Better let you get on with your work."

"Thank you, Aiden," Elsa replied as she began to read through one of the papers that I'd given her. "It was nice to meet you."

"You as well," I answered and with a respected bow of my head, I headed off carrying the smaller bundle of duplicate documents under my arm.

As I left the study, I felt strangely proud of myself. My first encounter with Queen Elsa had gone like a dream and I could see what everyone was saying of how she was a fair and just ruler of her kingdom and the fact she seemed to welcome me as a newcomer to the royal staff with open arms seemed to confirm just that.

Ok, I had lie to her about her sister's, ahem, _misadventures_ on some lake but other that, I felt I and no reason to feel worried about working here. It was starting to feel like home…

* * *

 **There we are then. Before anyone asks anything, no this won't be a ElsaxOC story for once, this one is mostly about friendship, actually when you think about it, not many of this sort of type when you think about it. Hope you enjoyed that one if you did and the next chapter will be of visiting guests to Arendelle, which can only well as you can imagine. Hope to see you then, until next time!**


	5. Out For The Count

**Finally we get an update on this story. Sorry I've not had the chance to update, but I've been very busy of late with work and other various things to get done and that's not including a bad dose of writers' block. As a result, I'm not too keen on this chapter and it might not be as a good as the other chapters in this story as I pretty much spent running back and forward from writing this chapter and my work.**

 **Anyway, let's get on with the story in which Aiden meets a rather rude guest...**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Out For The Count**

One of the main things you're certain to encounter while working in a castle is special guests, wherever they be royalty, nobility or ambassadors all hoping to do good business. So far however, you are possibly aware that Arendelle hadn't exactly gone regarding visitors. You'll know of Prince Hans (aka, the Southern Isles Scrotum Bastard)attempting to take the throne by murdering the Royal sisters, so I won't go too much into that.

Also, I also will point out that the Duke of Weselton (or Weaseltown as most of us servants now like to call that place now) had acted in a way during the Great Freeze that his actions had seen trade between Arendelle and Weselton cease. I didn't know exactly what he had done to cause this, though according to some of the servants who were there at the time, they all told me that they were happy to see the back of him and anything to do with that place, especially Kai who kept referring to them as Weaseltown from then on.

To this day I still didn't know what he had against Weselton.

On the week that I had joined, there had been one invited diplomate from some nearby kingdom wishing to discuss trade in the wake of Arendelle cutting ties with Weselton and act as a new trading partner. Because I had been training in that time, I didn't know who it was, but from what I heard it seemed like it went very well. An agreement was made for trade to begin and, for once, there was no royal coup of Arendelle and it seemed that characters like Prince Hans and the Duke would be the only nefarious types to end up on Arendelle's shores.

I would soon realise that would be a naïve thought as one thing I have learnt while living and working in Arendelle is that always expect the unexpected as when these new guests we were about to meet would prove that point.

In the late afternoon of that September, I was out in the stables when I first heard the news that we were expecting guests. At first, you'd think I was doing work there, right? Truth was that it was during my break, so I decided to spend the time with Kristoff playing a game of cards with him. You wouldn't know this, but our Ice Master and Deliver is surprisingly very skilled at playing a game of cards as I was finding out the hard way.

"That's another for me," Kristoff announced proudly as he placed his cards down on the barrel we were playing at and begin shuffling them to begin another game.

"That's twice, you've kicked my ass," I groaned. "And I always thought myself as a good card player…"

Sven, who had been peering his head over his stable door watching me and Kristoff play, gave me a sympathetic look. _"Better luck next time buddy,"_ Kristoff spoke in Sven's 'voice' that seemed to match the reindeer's expression.

"Aye, aye whatever," I sighed.

Oh yeah, that's another thing I've found while getting to know Kristoff, his ability to talk to reindeers or his ventriloquist act however you viewed it. When I first saw them do this, I thought it was some sort of double act they did to confuse people, but it seemed that Kristoff might've had some unlikely ability that seemed genuine.

By that point I had long since given up asking any questions about this as by now what I'd experienced so far regarding magical queens and living snowman, this was actually _normal_ in comparison. I didn't really bother asking anymore which by example if princess Anna was to reveal that she had secret powers of her own, I wouldn't question her about it.

Arendelle was anything but normal I've come to realise, but I suppose you already knew that.

Back to our game however, Kristoff had finished shuffling the pack, raised three fingers up and grinned at me. "Best of three then?"

I sighed and raised my arms up in defeat, already anticipating yet another heavy defeat. "Alright then. Let's try again."

"I'll promise to go easy this time," Kristoff added with a chuckle.

"Oh, I bet ye would…"

But before Kristoff could finish handing out cards, I then caught glimpse of Kai walking by the entrance of the stables and he called at us once he spotted us. "Ah, there you guys are!"

"How do, sir," I greeted back. "Is break over already?"

The oversee laughed at my comment as he approached me and Kristoff. "No, not at all, Aiden. In fact, I have news to share with you that I've just told the other servants here."

"What is it then?" Kristoff asked raising an eyebrow.

Kai cleared his throat briefly before revealing to us. "We've just received news that later this week, we are to receive a visit from Count Eric and Countess Brenda. First time they'll be back here in years."

This surprised me and Kristoff, not of hearing news that we were expecting special guests but that I'd never heard of these two before, let alone known that they had been here years previously.

"Sorry who are they?" I asked, "and what'd you mean they were 'here years ago?'"

"I know it seems strange to hear about those two you'll have little knowledge of," Kai admitted. "But years ago, Count Eric and his wife Brenda were great supporters of the late king and queen by assisting them on various diplomatic missions which mostly were successful. For their services and as a reward, they offered them land near border on the edge of Arendelle to call their own."

Kristoff narrowed his eyes as he thought of something. "Really? If they are supporters of the family, why have they been away for all these years and why haven't we heard of them until now?"

I could see Kai put on a lukewarm expression as if, in my view at least, they seemed to bring up some bad thoughts for him. "A few things actually. First was the isolation of the castle after Queen Elsa's… _incident,_ when she injured Princess Anna when she was young. Then when the king and queen passed away at sea, the Count and Countess seemed to forget about us and over the years began to see their own land as a small kingdom."

" _So_ …bottom line, power went to their heads, then?" I asked in which Kai nodded sadly.

"Pretty much that, Aiden. With Elsa being Queen and Arendelle no longer in isolation, hopefully the Queen will be able to rekindle the goodwill between us and them, even though both sisters themselves know very little about them so it could take a while to get to know them."

He paused briefly and slightly leaned forward to tell us something. "That all being said just between you and me, I'm slightly wary about them..."

"You mean they're like _Hans_?" Kristoff inquired, he himself now looking cautious.

Kai sighed. "Thankfully they don't have any evil motives that we are aware of at least; but given how they've gotten an ego the size of the fjord, it wouldn't hurt to be on your guard."

I leaned back on my seat and drew in an intake of air before glancing at Kristoff and Sven as I thought about this new information over. "Alright…um…anything else to say, sir?"

"Nothing else really," Kai replied. "Just remember your break ends in ten minutes and I need your help with waxing the floorboards on the steps, got that?"

"Aye, sure thing," I nodded and with that, Kai turned and headed away from the stables leaving the rest of us to digest the news. Neither of us said anything for a while until I spoke up. "Well…this is all rather interestin' news…a Count and Countess of Arendelle, guess you learn somethin' new every…Kristoff?"

The Ice harvester wasn't looking at me or Sven and instead looked unsettled by all this with Sven grunting and rubbing his muzzle against him trying to cheer him up. "What's wrong, bud?" I asked.

Kristoff didn't look at me and didn't know what to say. "A…Aiden, can I admit something?"

"Anythin', lad. Is something wrong?"

"I'm nervous…"

I gave him a bemused expression. "How so? They're only guests—"

"I'm not meaning that, it's just, well, _two_ things actually. I've never met visiting special guests since I started living here."

"Weren't you here when we had that—?"

"I was away ice harvesting, remember?"

I didn't say anything as it suddenly occurred to me when we had that diplomate who was hoping for a new trade deal, Kristoff had just missed out on encountering them due to him being away. " _Ahh_ …now I remember. Truth be told I was studyin' in that time, so this'll be my first time too seein' special guests. What was the other thing?"

At this point, Kristoff rubbed the side of his head and Sven made an expression that seem to say, 'are you ok?' to Kristoff. "Thing is, what I'm worried about is…how will they react to, you know, me being with Anna?"

I was silent as I tried to figure out his dilemma. "What about you and Anna?"

"When I was up there with the other ice harvesters," Kristoff explained. "They were talking about us and, well, how _they_ might think of me being there…"

At first, I didn't quite get what he was going on about until it slowly dawned on me what was troubling him. "Wait, you mean what those upper-class types might think of you being with Anna? I see nothin' wrong with you two together."

"I know you don't mind as well as Elsa and the other servants," Kristoff retorted. "Still, what the other ice harvesters said did make me feel—"

"Come on, Kristoff," I interrupted. "You're a commoner courtin' a Princess, so what? It's like one of those star cross lover story things my old man goes on about. Who cares what these visitors might think of you two in a relationship? As long as you two are happy then all is good."

Sven seemed to agree with me by nodding and make a grunting sound that sounded like he was saying, 'hear, hear'.

Kristoff though still looked unsure about himself, almost if he the realisation of the fact that after all this time he was going out with the Crown Princess of Arendelle. Then again after a life doing ice harvesting to suddenly find yourself mixing in with royalty was quite the contrast to say the least. "Thanks Aiden, but…I'm just nervous about this."

"Don't worry about it, remember I'll be there too helpin' out. You'll won't be the only commoner in the room as a matter of fact and if they do start giving you grief, well…I'm sure Elsa will put them in their place."

He then looked at me and gave me a small smile and Sven gave Kristoff another affectionate rub of his head as if he was meaning that he was right behind him too. "Ok guys…thanks for sticking by me."

"What are friends for?" I chuckled. "How about another card game to take your mind of it?"

"Alright then, I'll go easy on you this time."

"You mean I'll finally be able to beat you this time? Oh, you're too kind."

He did go easy this time round, but sadly for my sake within five minutes, he promptly kicked my ass.

It wouldn't until another few days until the Count and Countess would arrive and that whole day had been nothing but one big planning operation that had seen all of us servants working flat out to make sure everything was looking good for when they arrived. The day was such a rush that I honestly can't remember much what I did in all of this until the late afternoon when I was given a task by Kai that I never thought he give me.

"You want me to do _what_ now?" I asked incredulously.

"I want you to be the one to welcome the Count and Countess when they arrive."

I was taken aback by this for normally Kai would be the one who'd do this this task, but the fact he was giving it to me seemed to feel rather strange. "Well…ok sir, but…don't you normally do it?"

Kai nodded. "Indeed, however I do feel it is important to let others have a chance to do so, all good for experience."

There was something suspicious in the way he said it, almost if he didn't want to see these guys whoever they might be, and I remembered how he said he was suspicious about them when he first told me and Kristoff while at the stables. What had happened to make Kai act like that?

"Well…ok sir," I muttered. "Just that I've never quite greeted guests before. Not sure what to do."

"It's simple," Kai smiled. "All you do is greet them politely, take whatever luggage they have and lead them up to their room and tell them dinner is at six thirty. Remember where their room is now?"

I scratched the back of my head in thought and merely nodded. "Yeah and, well, ok then. Sounds easy enough I suppose."

"Good stuff," Kai replied and patted me on the shoulder. "Just keep your head down and you'll be fine. Hopefully our visitors won't cause much trouble..."

The way he said 'trouble', and the way he let it linger there, seem to confirm my suspicious that he wasn't quite happy about the Count and Countess coming to stay, alas, there was nothing that could be done no matter what any of us felt; we all had a job to do and I had to do my part in all of this.

"Ok sir," I said. "I'll do it."

It was sunset by the time I had to go out and greet the pair and even in that final hour before they were due to be here, everyone was frantically getting final things in order such as getting plates out, food preparation, cleaning and God knows what else that was needed to make the castle fit for visitors.

Just before I went outside, I could see Elsa and Olaf down one corridor with the Queen talking to Olaf about something, most likely telling him to keep out of the way in case he'd most likely scare the visitors.

As I stood outside near the main entrance in the courtyard, the sky was a nice shade of purple and there was even a gentle breeze blowing in the air which did help in some ways keep me calm as I waited for the sight of the expected horse and carriage to turn up.

 _Just keep calm, you'll be fine._

As I waited, everything fell silent and all I could do was simply stare at the open gates and wait for the Count and Countess' arrival, waiting always just felt horrible to me. To try and pass the time, I gave myself a final dust off for my blue blazer and a rub of my brown hair to try and look neat as possible, but I honestly doubt it would've made much of a difference.

Just then, the sound of horse hoofs hitting the cobbled pavement on the way into the castle grounds and the cry of one of the guards from the battlements crying out to announce an important arrival all meant one thing. The Count and Countess were here.

Two brown horses hauled a maroon carriage in tow and the first thing that I noticed was that they had several trunks of luggage attached to the back and I knew it was going to take a few trips to bring up all their baggage with me to their room.

"Bloody hell hope they won't weigh a ton," I muttered darkly to myself.

But as the carriage rolled up alongside me and headed over to open the door for them, I couldn't help but hear voices from inside talking loudly, though rather, from what I could assume was the Countess doing most of the talking.

"Hasn't changed a day," the voice of the Countess noted, her voice booming from inside the carriage.

"There's nothing wrong with that my dear," replied the voice of the Count who sounded more relaxed that his wife. "I don't see what's wrong with that."

"That's what I do fear," the Countess snapped back. "Remember the late King and Queen had a mice problem years ago? Oh, I'd _dread_ to think if they're still here. I'm terrified by them!"

Hearing this caused me to pause. _Mice_? They had a mice problem here years ago? I was surprised that no one had mentioned it to me, then again why would you want to reveal that Arendelle castle once had an infestation problem? Nonetheless I opened the carriage door and bowed my head to them.

"Welcome to Arendelle, sir and madam," I greeted in them graciously.

At this point Count Eric stepped forward to exit the carriage and revealed himself to be tall and lanky fellow with short curly grey hair, glasses and dark brown eyes. He was also wearing a regal outfit that consisted of a long scarlet coat, matching black trousers and boots, a cane stick and a black top hat, in which the Count seemed happy at my presence and tipped his hat at me.

"Good day, boy," he greeted me, and I smiled and nodded back at him in response. He then turned around raising an arm out to help his wife out of the coach.

As she stepped out of the carriage, the Countess revealed herself to be quite plump woman with faded red hair and piercing blue eyes, she was clearly a few years younger than her husband. Unlike the Count, she didn't even acknowledge me and instead fixed her gaze on up at the castle. Seeing this, I decided to quickly go around to the back of the coach and unfasten two of the big cases and then the Countess finally spoke again to her husband.

"Thank heavens that dreadful journey is over," she sighed in relief. "The roads around here are absolutely _appalling!_ I cannot believe the Queen would let them get into such a state as her late father and mother would _**never**_ have allowed this to happen."

"Brenda my dove," Count Eric groaned. "You do realise that there are perhaps more important matters for her to deal with than the roads?"

"It is a disgrace," Countess Brenda retorted, clearly having not listened to her husband there.

It was here that I see that Brenda was the more dominating of the two and that poor Eric was nothing more than a henpecked husband. I felt sorry for the guy as he seemed anything but the sort of nefarious character that Kai referred to him as, though Brenda in contrast…

"Sir and Madam," I called to them as he held both their suitcases, they both turned to look at me. "The Queen and Princess will see you in due course, but in the meantime if you follow me, I'll lead you to your room."

"Thank you, dear boy," Eric replied respectfully. "Excuse my interests but...what is your name?"

I wasn't expecting to say my name to them, let alone one of them asking for it, and I stood there quite stunned to hear this, then again, I imagined that he was trying to be friendly as possible due to his wife's behaviour just there. "A…Aiden, Aiden Fergusson."

Before the Count could reply, Countess Brenda interrupted us. "Please lead us upstairs Hayden, I'm needing rest."

I was about to try and correct her on her mistake but knowing that these were guests and I was nothing more than just a mere servant boy, I sighed in defeat and led them into the castle and up the stairs towards their room. Along the way, several other servants on the way there greeted them respectably and as we made our way towards the bed chambers, the couple were chatting among various subjects regarding the castle from decorations, familiar faces they recognised and what Elsa and Anna looked like after so many years.

It was when we passed a large landscape portrait on the wall depicting the fjords that the Countess spoke yet again. "They've still got that painting, in the exact same place too!"

"I feel it's rather nice my dear," replied Eric. "Nice to see it's still here after all these years."

"You blithering buffoon!" Brenda groaned. "How can you not see that it's a _horrible_ painting, heaven knows why the late King thought it was fit to be placed on the walls of this castle. Most likely it was painted by the lowest commoner!"

 _God almighty this woman is a pain in neck!_

I didn't bother to look back and try and add to the conversation as I knew it wasn't my business to interfere and instead all I could do was keep my head down and carry on leading them to their room, was by now was not far as we were in the bed chambers corridor.

However, the Countess wasn't finished with her ranting. "Speaking of commoner, I heard that the Crown Princess is currently being courted by a commoner, an ice harvester for heaven's sake!"

My eyes widened as I heard this, I hoped that there wouldn't be any mention to Kristoff there, but hearing that made my heart drop. "What on earth is the matter with that my dear?" Eric tried to argue back. "From what I heard he did a lot to help during the Great Freeze, I'm sure he's deserves respect from us."

 _I like this guy; too bad I can't say the same about his wife._

I was breathing a sigh of relief when I caught sight of the door that was to be their room and it seemed like a good time too as Brenda was starting off on another rant. "Eric for goodness sake! It's not right for some _commoner_ , an ice harvester of all people, courting a Princess! How the devil did the Queen approve of this?!"

"Brenda, please—"

"No! _You_ have a think about this for one—"

"Ok, sir and madam, here we are at your room," I interrupted as we arrived at the door, though even before I turned around to look at them, I could sense the tension in the air was that thick you could cut it with a knife. Eric looked relieved that we were here and gave me a look as if he was saying that he was sorry about this while Brenda was fuming. Clearly it seemed so many things had put her in an angry state that there was nothing to calm her.

"Please make yourselves comfortable," I said as I opened the door for them and dragged in the two suitcases into the room. "For your information, dinner will be at six thirty this evenin' where the queen and princess will be expectin' you. Now, if you'll excuse me, please allow me to bring the rest of your belongings with me."

Brenda sat on the edge of the bed and sighed deeply. "Very well, Hayden. Be quick about it."

 _It's_ Aiden _you daft old bitch._

I had to hold back the temptation of trying to correct her, but I just nodded (with my teeth grinding), left the room and headed off to collect the rest of the baggage. As I headed off down the corridor, I couldn't help but think dinner was going to be a troubling affair and I glanced at one of the windows and sadly pondered what could I do to help.

Just keep your head down and hope for the best. How very wrong were things not going to go the way we wanted...

The main hall had been decked up ready for the occasion with a long table being there with Elsa sat at the top end at her own chair while to her right, Anna and Kristoff sat together while directly opposite them were Eric and Brenda.

Elsa and Anna had dressed up nicely for dinner as too did the visiting Count and Countess, but sadly despite Kristoff's best efforts to look smart (and taking a wash for once), he still did unfortunately stand out like a sore thumb to the others at that table. Thankfully for most of dinner, things seemed rather cordial by all concern and when I came to hand out the desserts, with another servant, Ivar, behind me handing out the drinks, it seemed that it was going to be all fine for tonight.

That all being said, I could see Anna was giving her boyfriend support by holding his hand under the table as she must've been all too aware that trouble could be brewing, though I was surprised to see the Countess acting rather pleasant towards Elsa and Anna and acted nothing like the rude person I had the unfortune pleasure to encounter earlier that day. Though she clearly was giving Kristoff the stink eye and never even acknowledge him _once_ during that evening. Poor guy.

As I was taking away the empty plates and stacking them together, it was here when finally, the Countess began to talk to Kristoff. "So then, I believe you are Christopher?"

"Kristoff," the ice harvester corrected, his expression now looking uneasy.

The Countess didn't seem to notice him correcting her and carried on talking. "What exactly is this ' _Ice Master and Deliver_?' I don't recall such a title that the late King and Queen ever conceived." She paused and eyed the younger couple with a calculating look. "Is this something that was made just for _your_ sakes?"

"No," Anna butted in. This wasn't the bubbly Anna we knew but rather a more reserved one that you'd normally expect from a Princess, but it is an image that Anna is putting on remarkable well. "He was awarded it for his actions during the Great Freeze. None of it has to do with our relationship."

"She's right," Kristoff added. "The Queen gave me this title and that's that."

At this point I had collected the empty plates and began walking away towards the door when the Countess spoke again. "I say boy…what do you think makes you worthy of not only being with _her_ , but in this room with _us_?"

The temperature in the room seem to drop and for once it wasn't anything to do with Elsa, though I had little to doubt she was trying her hardest to hold back her powers. "Please," Elsa said, "I'd rather not talk ab—"

"No, no, no I'd rather like to," Brenda interrupted rudely.

 _Interrupt the Queen? This woman has no shame!_

Ivar and me both looked at the table in which we could see the situation unfold. The Countess had been waiting for her moment to try and shame Kristoff and now this was her moment to strike. Yes, it wasn't our business as servants to listen into anything regarding those who had a higher status than us, yet neither me and Ivar couldn't help but watch in morbid fascination.

I was already thinking out two scenarios in my head, one that either Elsa, having enough of Brenda's conduct, will suddenly strike down the Countess with her ice powers and the other being that Kristoff would suddenly turn the table over and beat up Brenda to a bloody pulp. Both situations I didn't mind witnessing personally, but still…

"Come on my dear," Count Eric tried to intervene. "Can we please change the sub—"

" _Kristoff_ ," the Countess said sharply. "You haven't answered my question. Do you think you are worthy...?"

The ice harvester looked rattled, but nonetheless kept trying his hardest to keep his emotions in check. "Y-yes…and—"

"Not so fast there," the Countess interrupted again, this time wearing an expression of smug joy. Clearly, she'd no intention to let the poor man off the hook there. "If you ask me, I wouldn't have your presence in this room with us."

How Kristoff held the urge to attack that wicked woman I'll never know, but I could see his face tensing up with Anna looking like she was about to burst into tears about the insults the Countess had said to her true love. Elsa's blue eyes were wide as saucers as she looked unsure what to do to ease the moment and briefly, even looked at me and Ivar as if she was expecting us to do something.

There was just silence in that room and I glanced around trying to figure out an idea, there had to be something to get that woman's attention aware from the poor ice harvester…then I had an idea I remembered something the Countess just so happened to mention earlier. I gave Ivar a little wink then began to play some dramatics…

"I say what's that over there?" I called out as I pointed over at one of the columns.

This caught their attention as they all turned to look at me.

"What is it?" Elsa asked with some confusion.

"I say…I do think I see a _mouse_ there," I answered with emphasis on the word 'mouse'. I glanced over at them to gauge their reactions and to my delight, the Countess' previous smug expression was now replaced by a look of terror.

"W-what'd you say there…?!" Brenda uttered as she gripped the hand of Eric tightly.

I slowly began to walk over to the column to try and 'catch' the imaginary mouse. As I walked over, I could hear Brenda whispering to Eric something about her fears coming true. She her being distracted, I used the chance to give Elsa, Anna and Kristoff a sly wink at them to hint what I was up to. Ivar gave me a encouraging nod seeing my improvised plan in action.

"Ah yes here it is," I replied pretending to grab it. "Quite a feisty little fella he is."

"Get rid of it now!" Brenda cried, her voice now on the verge of panic. "Eric, do something!"

"Not now my dear," the Count answered sheepishly. "Let the boy do it."

"Whoa hang about," I said while keeping my back to them. "I don't think this is a mouse actually."

"Then what the devil is it then?!" Cried Brenda.

"It's…oh, goodness me…" I had to hold back a smirk as a looked back at them, the Countess now clearly looking terrified. "…it's a rat."

That did it. Within a millisecond, the Countess screamed and grabbed her husband tightly as she tried to make a quick getaway. "Eric we're leaving! I can't stand this!"

The poor Count was practically dragged along the room in which the poor guy looked like he was trying to say sorry to us. Then before we knew it, the pair had gone through the main doors and left the main hall in state of shocked silence as we all tried to figure out what had just happened.

I didn't know if I'd done the right thing or I'd get into trouble for lying to guests, but I had to do something there for Kristoff and Anna there. The silence was finally broken by Elsa who drew in a deep breath. " _Well_ …I suppose this concludes dinner for this evening."

Ivar, who had been silent in all of this, sudden broke out in applause at my act. "Way to go, Aiden!" He happily cheered and I gave him a mock bow in thanks. I then noticed Kristoff and the royal sisters still coming to turns over the sudden change in events that had transpired.

"You ok?" I asked them as I walked over to them.

"It was unorthodox I'll say," Elsa admitted. "But regardless, it has worked in preventing a potential nasty situation getting out of hand. Thank you, Aiden"

Kristoff now looked like a man who had cheated death and he sighed in relief with Anna pulling him in for a tight embrace while whispered words of comfort to him. He then looked up and me and offered me a handshake. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"Nah it's ok," I answered with a small smile. "Just doin' my job to serve and help royalty."

The blonde man grinned sheepishly. "Um…I'm not royalty."

" _Yet,"_ I corrected him with a wink and hearing this made Anna giggle. She then turned to look at me with her eyes brimming with thanks, she frankly didn't need to say anything judging by her expression.

"Like the what the others have said," Anna uttered in a rather chilled attitude unusual for her. "Thank you, thank you, thank _you_ …"

I had to chuckle. "Alright, alright, enough with the—"

Before I could finish my sentence, Anna suddenly leapt forward from her embrace with Kristoff and pulled me in for a bone crushing hug that I never thought was possible for a girl her size, let alone by a _Princess_ of all people. "I'm so glad I hired you, _Jock_! What'd we do without you?!"

"Y-your highness…I'm chokin'…can't breathe. Help...? Anyone…?"

I looked over Anna's shoulder that showed Kristoff giving me a shrug of his shoulders with a 'don't look at me' expression while Elsa covered mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle. Looking behind me, Ivar was giving me a thumbs up and grinned broadly.

 _Oh, what great help…not._

So yes, in the end, my first encounter with dealing with special guests didn't exactly go the way it might've been planned, but it would be something I'd never forget in a hurry for sure. Thankfully though, I would deal with another pair of royal guests in Arendelle which I'm happy to say has a much more happier ending.

But that my friends, is a tale for another day…

* * *

 **There we are then and what a bitch that Countess was. In fact the Countess is actually based on a person I've had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting at work and yes, she is largely the inspiration for the Countess here. Sounds cruel, but you have to get ideas from somewhere. Anyway, next chapter will be Aiden having a day out with Sven...what could go wrong?**

 **If you do have suggestions for other chapter ideas I would be happy to hear from you regarding this. Hope this was alright and I'll see you next time!**


	6. The Trouble With Sven

**Another update! This chapter was actually quite a fun one to write for some reason, don't know why but I guess some chapters are like that.**

 **Anyway I will say thanks for the kind reviews so far and it does help me feel motivated so thank you. Anyway, lets begin with the next chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **The Trouble with Sven**

Here's a question for you, how many castles can you think of that has a reindeer living it it's stables among the horses? Most likely none, but this being Arendelle there was always something out of left field and here we did have one such certain reindeer living with us. Sven.

If you didn't know by now, Sven had been Kristoff's best friend in the years since he was a young lad and they had always been together throughout their various adventures since then. After what felt like a lifetime living up in the mountains, they had now found themselves living in Arendelle castle and I can only imagine that neither of them would've ever in their wildest dreams thought they'd be where they are now. Suppose fate always likes to play around with people in many ways.

The two of them did have rather mixed fortunes with their new life. Kristoff found himself acting more with people, both interesting and horrible (a certain Countess anyone?) and it was taking some getting use to for our Royal Ice Master and Deliver. Though with Anna helping him all the way, I had no reason to think that he would begin to settle in with this new life in the castle.

In contrast, Sven couldn't be more different as since taking up living in the Royal stables, you only needed to look at him to see how much he loved his new life. With a large stall for him, fresh hay always there to make his stall feel comfortable as possible and, most important of all, an unlimited supply of carrots, what was there for Sven not to love? In summary, he had taken to the new life like a duck to water.

They still went for their ice harvesting business, but it was during early October that year, on their final trip of the year, when things ended on a rather painful note.

With winter about to kick in (this time a more natural one that wasn't caused by cursed queens) Kristoff was hoping for a successful trip to end the year on a high note. By this point with his constant trips away up the mountains and with his experience, it felt like a foregone conclusion that all would be fine in the end, little did we all know that his trip was to be cut short after only two days.

The reason? He had made a bad slip on the ice during one cutting process and had badly twisted his ankle, an embarrassing mistake on his part. No matter how much he would try to battle on through the pain, he had to give up and make an unexpected return to the castle with Sven being there to help him get home.

We were all surprised to see them back so soon, though upon finding out what had happened, it didn't long for Kristoff to be hurried off for treatment and was bedridden for the next few days. It was clear to him that any hopes of any further ice harvesting trips that year in that condition were now dead in the water.

One thing that everyone of us servants there will remember is Anna's hysterical reaction to his injury, poor lassie. By the way she reacted, you might've though that Kristoff was dying and surely would've moved heaven and earth to get her boyfriend the best treatment possible. Seeing her being there for him pretty much said everything about how much she loves him.

Even though Anna always stuck by Kristoff's side while he lay in bed, she never did forget to visit Sven in his stable at least once a day and tended to the reindeer by giving him snacks or tell him how Kristoff was getting on. Anna loved animals and we could all see that she had a special bond with Sven and the reindeer in turn always loved seeing the red head princess come by to visit him. If given the chance, she'd likely spoil that reindeer rotten.

Now you might've seen so far that I've had the odd fleeting encounter with Sven since I started this job, but never have I had the chance then to get to know that reindeer fully, though that was to change in the week after Kristoff's injury…

The morning's routine had been a straight forward one for me, clean up and then afterwards go and collect Kristoff's breakfast and bring it to him. Nothing really of note that sounds interesting, but I was looking forward to catching up with Kristoff again as I hadn't had the chance to speak with him since he returned as I had been doing various other tasks around the castle.

As I was approaching the room while carrying the breakfast tray, I could hear both Anna and Kristoff discussing other something.

"How are you getting up so early these days?" Kristoff's voice could be heard. "You've never been a morning person."

"All for you _my_ dear ice harvester," Anna's voice replied. "Why would I want to leave you here on your own? Yes, I'd wish I was still in bed right now, but with you being like this, I want to be here with you."

"Anna I—"

"Kristoff, I mean in. You'll get through this and I'll be here all the way."

I couldn't help but smile hearing that, while Anna may have been a feisty and loud character that many would've unfairly thought of her as a ditz, she did have her serious moments like this, and this was helping me see a new layer to the crown princess that there was perhaps a little more to her than meets the eye.

It was then, after some difficult positioning on my arm to try and balance the tray while I freed my left hand, I knocked on the door. "Room service!" I called out.

"Aiden is that you?" Kristoff's voice replied.

"Nope, it's William Wallace," I chuckled as I opened the door and enter the room. There was our ice harvester friend lying back on the led with his right foot with a thick bandage wrapped round it. Sitting by him on chair was Anna who was gently holding his hand, don't know how long she'd been there from, but given how early it was that day I could only assume since daybreak.

The couple both gave me a smile as I entered and Kristoff especially seemed pleased that he was getting his breakfast at last, though he did eye the apple that had been placed alongside the rest of his breakfast.

"Morning, Kristoff," I greeted. "How's the foot?"

"Not as bad as I feared," he replied. "The doctor says I should be back to normal by the end of the week." As I placed the tray on the bedside, Kristoff then noticed the fruit with suspicion. "What's this?"

"An apple," I replied sarcastically.

Kristoff groaned. "I know that genius. I mean that I don't remembering wanting an apple, unless someone is playing a joke with that whole 'an apple keep's the doctor away' stuff."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't look at me as I never planned it, my only job is to bring your breakfast up."

We both then noticed Anna trying and failing to hold back laughter and it then made us realise that we might've found the culprit.

"…Was it _you_ , feistypants?" Kristoff remarked dryly, which only set Anna off with her giggles. Seemed to confirm in that moment that she was behind it.

"As I said, I'm only looking out for you," Anna answered after she calmed down from her giggling fit. Clearly, she had enjoyed her little joke. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen you eat any fruit."

"Or anything other than carrots covered in Sven's saliva," I added jokingly.

"Hey! What's wrong with that?" Kristoff retorted.

"More like what's _right_ about it? Why would you share food with—"

"Oh, that reminds me!" Anna suddenly spoke up which halted our little argument. "Nearly forgot about seeing Sven!"

Kristoff's expression softened upon hearing his reindeer friend being mentioned. "…You're right, Anna. I haven't seen him for days…"

Anna rested her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it gently. "Don't worry, you'll be out before you know it. I'll say you said hi."

"Anna…sorry I'm like this, do wish we could have another day up the mountains—" He was silenced as the red head princess placed a finger on his lips.

"Don't be sorry for anything," Anna uttered. "We will have a day for ourselves soon…in fact, it can be today. Me just staying with you all day."

"But what about Sven?"

"I have an idea…" She turned around to look at me and grinned. "Aiden, how would you like to get to know Sven more?"

It didn't take me long to think what Anna's plan was. "Hold up, you sure about this? He only seems to like you two."

"Relax," Anna assumed me. "He likes company and if you always to remember giving him carrots then you're on the right path."

"That's kind of true," Kristoff added, his face with a look reservation on it.

"Your highness," I answered dumbfoundedly. "I…I haven't quite dealt with animals before. I'm not sure if this is a good idea."

"Always a first for everything," Anna answered with a mischievous grin as she stood up. "Come on, let's go and see Sven." Before she left, she gave Kristoff a quick peck on the lips before replying with, "I'll be back."

She then motioned me to follow her out of the room and to the stables. I didn't know what to think about the task in hand, spend a day with Sven? Don't get me wrong I like animals as a much as the next person, though I didn't quite think when I got this job a servant that it meant I had to deal with a fully-grown reindeer. What castle would you have look after a reindeer?

Then I remember, this was Arendelle were for the most part, nothing is normal.

I could see Anna thought that it was a great idea, though by the tone of Kristoff before we left, both me and him shared out doubts if this was a good idea.

Before we went out to the stables, we made a brief detour to the kitchens in which Anna filled a bag up with, you guessed it, carrots. Right before he headed off again, Anna stole a piece of chocolate from a bowl that knew from getting Kristoff's breakfast earlier was meant for Elsa.

"You didn't see me steal that!" Anna ordered me in which I didn't want to argue and merely raised my hands up in agreement. Never get between a woman and chocolate, especially princess Anna.

We then reached the stable and Anna lead the way towards Sven's stall. "Hi Sven!" She called out in which Sven's head popped up from behind the door and upon seeing the princess, he grunted happily. "I have something for you," she added and from the bag she was carrying, she pulled out one carrot and the reindeer's eyes lit up and had no trouble at all in taking the whole carrot in his mouth.

"How are you today?" Anna asked Sven as started stroking his fur with Sven grunting in response, though it left me and Anna looking perplexed at what he was trying to say. Where was Kristoff when you needed him? However, he did start looking around and Anna seemed to get an idea of what the reindeer was looking for.

"You looking for Kristoff?" Anna cooed in which the reindeer made a grunt of agreement. "Sorry, Sven. He's still in bed, but don't worry, the doctor says he'll be out earlier than expected so you'll be able to see him soon."

Upon hearing this, Sven grinned and began nuzzling Anna affectionately which made the princess giggle. I couldn't help but smile at the scene before me, clearly the two of them shared a bond and I had no reason to doubt that Anna adored him much more than the other horses in the stables.

I didn't want to say anything in case I ruined the moment and just rested against one of the beams there and simply watched the happy moment. It was then Sven seemed to finally notice me and grunted for Anna's attention.

"Oh, sorry!" Anna apologised. "Kind of got lost in the moment there."

"Naw, it's fine lass," I assured her. "Didn't want to interrupt anythin'."

Anna smiled and motioned me over towards Sven before she spoke again. "Ok then, so you don't need no introductions here, am I right?"

"More or less," I replied in which made Sven make a grunting sound that sounded like a chuckle.

She then turned her attention back at Sven. "Now boy, I know I like to spend time with you as much as possible, but since Kristoff is, well, stuck in bed, I want to be there with hum much as possible, ok?"

Sven's expression softened as if he understood where this was going.

Anna carried on speaking. "So, for today, I want you and Aiden to spend time together and he'll look out for you for the day, you ok with that?"

The reindeer gave me an inquisitive stare before looking back at Anna in which, after thinking it through, he nodded and made a reluctant grunt.

"Perfect," Anna smiled and then handed me over the bag of carrots. Though it was then I realised something she'd forgot to mention.

"Um, your highness. What'd you want me to do with him today, other feedin' carrots obviously?"

The princess realised she'd forgot to mention the tasks for the day and quickly rattled off the following. The tasks were to make sure he got a good brush of his fur, carrots, have a wash, carrots, replace the hay in his stall, carrots and then finally, take him out for a walk to stretch his legs. The latter task seemed a bit concerning to me.

"You sure that's wise?"

"Of sure it is, Aiden. I've done it before and besides, he needs to get and about. No good with him stuck in here all week am I right?" Sven made a small bellow in agreement.

I didn't quite know what to make with that idea. I hadn't even walked a dog before let alone a reindeer, but being the servant, I had no choice in the matter but go for it. "Well…if you insist your highness. I'll take care of him."

The princess grinned broadly rubbed her hands together. "Thank you, Aiden. Where would I be without you?"

"Uh…somewhere where…somethin' happens…?" I answered stupidly, but Anna didn't seem to register my answer and gave Sven a final rub of his muzzle.

"Take care you too and don't worry Sven, I'll make sure Kristoff will be back soon!" With that said, the red head princess bounded off with her two braids bouncing up and down as she heads off leaving me and Sven alone.

I didn't say anything at first, but then I noticed the happy look on Sven's muzzle as he stared at where Anna had been just before. "Well Sven, you think she's the one for Kristoff?"

Sven made a happy bellow and nodded in agreement which did make me chuckle at his keenness. I didn't quite know if he had dealt with other humans other than Kristoff, but it was clear that he defiantly approved of Anna and did suspect it perhaps didn't have to do with all those carrots she like to feed him. Anyway, what'd did I care? If they he was happy then all was good.

"Ok then," I said as I saw a set of large brushes hanging up on the wall near the entrance to the stables. "Time to get to work with you, please go easy on me, alright?"

Thankfully Sven did do as I requested and not only that, he seemed to really enjoy it. It was even rather relaxing as a brushed him and whenever there was a knot of his fur, it was strangely satisfying when I managed to sort the knot out. For my first time cleaning an animal, let alone a reindeer, I felt I'd done a decent job of it and the look of approval shared by Sven seemed to be more than enough that it was good enough for him.

Carrot feeding followed in which I gave him a bite of the carrot and he took half of it in his mouth and then stuck it out of his mouth, wanting me to have a bite of it. Cue a rather disgusted expression from me

"Uh, thanks but no thanks," I muttered trying to be diplomatic as possible. "These carrots are all for you, remember?"

He seemed rather disappointed by that respond, but nonetheless carried on eating the carrot in his mouth and offered him the rest of carrot I had in my hand. Next task to do was to give him a wash and this part I found funny in context.

As I filled the large tub that was used for the animals for their washes, along filling it up with soap needed, I remembered how Kristoff never really like baths which often explained why he spelt so bad, how Anna seemed to always put up with this I'll never know. In contrast with Sven however as I opened the door for his stall and lead him down towards the tub, I found out that not only did Sven didn't mind washes, he actually _loved_ it.

To prove this, when he first caught glance of the now bubbled filled tub, he made a loud happy bellow and charged at the tub in which he leapt in and made a big splash which unfortunately got me wet in the process, not that he seemed to care at my predicament. "Thanks a _bunch_ , Sven," I thanked ironically and got to work washing him down.

That all being said, like with the brushing, he seemed to like being washed down and I even found myself even giving him small talk about myself, not that he couldn't understand as he tried to reply as I didn't speak reindeer, but I found being comfortable by it and I seemed to forgive and after that big splash of his…that was until after he got and dried himself like a dog and all the water on his fur ended on me to get me wet…again.

Another carrot for him followed and then came the task of cleaning out the hay in his stable and give him a new hay stack that was there in a corner of the stable with others. I didn't quite seem to think that he was needing new hay as the set he had in his stall look fresh in my eyes, then again Anna did order me to do so, thus I had to do as she asked.

However, it was here I sadly found I had an allergy to hay and began to sneeze a lot as I spread it around the stall. "Hope you're grateful for this," I sniffed and felt my eyes beginning to water. This wasn't going to end well.

After some spreading, sneezing and sniffing later, Sven's stall looked pretty much good as gold and I gave him a final carrot as a treat, then I realised I had one final task to do…take Sven for a walk. Who on earth takes a reindeer for a walk around the town? At first, I thought Anna was trying to pull a joke on me as I tried to explain my suspicious to Sven, but he motioned his head over to a corner of his stall and I hadn't noticed it before when I was setting out the hay, but there hanging up was a harness and a strap.

Sven's walking gear.

"Is this for real, pal?" I asked him in disbelieve in which he gave me a nod. "Oh _brilliant_ …I'm taking a big deer for a walk, how'd did I get into this situation again?"

Despite my reluctance and some struggling trying to attach the harness onto Sven while sneezing a lot, I led him out of his stall once again and this time outside into the courtyard. Come to think of it, it didn't seem like a bad idea going out for a walk for two reasons. One of which that after all the hay in there, anything to get out of there was very much welcomed. Plus, there was also the unexpected chance that while out there, I'd might so happen to bump into my Dad and step mother.

I hadn't seen them much since I started and any chance to meet them was a welcome opportunity in my eyes. It was just then a sudden thought came to me, did Anna know about the fact that I hadn't seem in a while and was using this a cover to help me see them?

It was most likely just a coincidence, but if Anna had planned this out, I'd have to give her credit where it's due for such an idea. As I said, there was a lot of hidden depth to her in which she didn't show that often.

Upon reaching the town, I did get many funny looks at me taking Sven for a walk and tried to take no notice at them. I just imagine that I was walking a dog and nothing else, plus that mindset did help that Sven pretty much acted like a dog most of the time.

"Bloody hell I'm feeling rather cold," I muttered to Sven as we walked, the dampness in clothes from Sven's water misadventures earlier were starting to be felt thanks to the chilly October breeze that was coming off the fjord. I was looking forward to getting back and putting my feet up by a warm fire.

The walk itself seemed to go without any incidents despite members of the public chuckling at the sight of this young servant boy with this reindeer. As we headed for the castle, it seemed like I had done a good day's work and was half expecting to get praise for what I'd done…that's when it all descended into chaos.

On the way back through one of the streets, something caught Sven's eyes, or rather _somethings_ at a food stall…

An entire pile of carrots on a table all for sale, pretty much to last a whole week.

Well, you don't need to think what happened next as Sven's face lit up.

"No Sven NO!" I cried as he dragged me along in his sprint as he crashed into the pile and caused carrots to fly everywhere and the stall to break under Sven's weight. I felt the whole ground about to swallow me whole in that moment. "No…no, no, no, no why Sven?! I'm really in for it now!"

Sven though didn't seem to care as he happily munched through the many scattered carrots and it didn't help that we had gathered a crowd of amused onlookers while I stood there trying to figure out what to do.

"What's going on out there?!" Cried a voice from inside the shop and stepping out from the shop entrance was a big beefy guy with a balding head and carrying one half eaten sandwich in his hand. Cleary he was still having his lunch and the look on his face upon seeing the mess that had been caused went from shock, despair and anger in all under five seconds.

The man, who I can only assume was the store owner, glared over to me. "You! Is this…this _reindeer_ yours?!"

I could see my situation was hopeless and that there was no point lying, had to come clean. "Well…I'm takin' care of him for today and…"

"So it is yours then," the man concluded, his face getting reader by the second from the rage that was building up in him. "Right…you get inside. You'll be paying for this and when you're done, get that damn animal out of here!"

It felt like my lowest point and Sven finally seem to realise what he'd just done as he shot me a sorry expression, not that I was taking any apologies for him in that moment. "A-aye…sure sir, I'll pay for this…" I followed the man into the store, and I gave Sven a final glare as I walked in. "Well done you noble steed. How the hell am I going to tell Kristoff about this?"

In the end, it was just a cruel way to end the day, after such a wonderful day of getting to know Sven and everything going well it had to end on such a sour note that did feel like such a punch in the guts. I would pay for the damages out of my own wages and took Sven back to the castle where I explained to Kristoff what happened. Luckily, he didn't get angry at me and he apologised for Sven's behaviour. Even Anna apologised too when she found out as that she had the idea of taking him out for a walk and thought she was responsible for it, though I assured her that she did nothing wrong and it was just a sudden turn of events.

Fair to say the story of my misadventure in town with Sven spread round the other servants who never let me forget it for a while afterwards. Clearly it was not my finest hour, but I would get on better terms with Sven afterwards who clearly learnt his lesson afterwards as whenever I came by the stables, he would try to give me affectionate rubs as his way of saying sorry.

There was bright moment to look forward for as next month would just happen to be a special day for me, but don't think it'll go all to plan as you might think.

* * *

 **Poor Aiden, I always like to be mean to OC's and there will be more to follow. Hope you enjoy this one and what will happen next? Find out next time!**


	7. Birthday Surprises

**Update time! Now before anyone asks, yes I did see the teaser for _Frozen 2_ and it looks really interesting. Have no idea what will happen but hopefully it'll be good and if so I plan to use it as part of potential sequel to this fanfic if this is popular enough, but that's just an idea right now.**

 **Anyway this was a rather strange one to write, combined with some writer's block and a busy schedule, I honestly don't know how this chapter turned out other than a few things changed with the ending being one that was to have a different outcome but yet I thought might be better used for later on in the story. So anyone, here's hoping for a good read!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Birthday Surprises**

For those who aren't aware from where I'm from, my fellow countrymen celebrate St. Andrew's Day, our national holiday for the 30th November. Now you're most likely asking just what do these days have to do with Arendelle or me? Well the truth is that 30th November just so happens to be my birthday and for the first time that November, I'd be celebrating my twenty first birthday at work and for once, not lazing about like I've always done. Though it wasn't to be all that I first might've expected.

The day started like any other. Get up, get dressed, find out what'd you be doing for today and all that. My thoughts were already thinking ahead for what my birthday might be like and if anyone would even care, though I had already gotten a card from Dad and Olga so there was that I suppose. To be honest with myself though, I knew I wasn't expecting anything major as I'd be working throughout the day and sadly neither Dad or Olga could be there tomorrow to celebrate.

Dad was out on one of his fishing excursions and wouldn't be back until the day after my birthday and Olga was having to work overtime to finish of some new teaching studies that she would recall many times as being so tedious and bad that she'd rather have her teeth ripped out than to go through all that again. So less said the better about that.

It was a rather unfortunate thing to happen but there was nothing I could do than just accept it and hope that it would turn out alright in the end, though as I was walking down the corridor of the servant quarters, I hadn't expected to see Kristoff calling me over and looking anxious yet annoyed over something.

"You alight, pal?" I asked as I approached him.

"Glad I found you, Aiden," Kristoff replied. "I know this sounds rather sudden, but I'm needing your help."

"Oh? What's happened?"

"Well, it's regarding my ice business…"

I was quite surprised to hear this, was he wanting to work with him? I had never had any other job other than being a servant let along as some ice harvester. "Uhh…I don't quite follow. I thought ice harvesting season was over?"

Kristoff shook his head. "No, no, no I don't mean that. I mean that I need your help about this guy that's giving me a headache."

"Who is it and what's goin' on?"

"I don't know if you know the guy," Kristoff stated. "But he's called Alrik Dahl. He's overdue to pay me over ice I gave him, he promised he pay me back by the end of the week."

"And how long was that?"

"Two months ago."

I winced at hearing this. "Two _months_?! Bloody hell what's the lad been up too in that time?"

" _Excuses_ all the time," Kristoff groaned. "When I try to ask him about it one time, he somehow got away and most of the time when I come around to his place his store assistant says he's away on ' _business'_ reasons. I swear he seems to know whenever I turn up."

I then thought about the name it suddenly made me think a bit more. "Hang about, Kristoff. Alrik Dahl…that does ring a bell. _Aye_ …aye now I think I know who yer on about. Is he that rather tight-fisted man who runs that betting shop?"

"That's right," Kristoff nodded. "You know the guy?"

"Not as such," I admitted as memories started flooding back to me. "My Dad does though whenever he goes to bet on the races. Keeps sayin' that Alrik tries to trick the customers such as messin' wi' the odds and such. Such a mean sod."

Kristoff shook his head in disbelief. "Is that so? Well at least I'm not the only one who's had problems with him."

"I have met him a few times when I was a wee laddie though," I added. "Seemed always nice to me back then, though I'm not sure if he'd remember me after all these years."

The ice harvester's face lit up. "Funny you should say that cause that might make things easier."

"What'd you talkin' about?"

"I was needing you to help as extra muscle if Alrik didn't cooperate this time," Kristoff explained. "But since you say that you know the guy, however brief, it might make things easier."

"So…let me get this straight. We go in, I try and plead with him to give you the money and if he does, that's that?"

"If all goes to plan…yes."

I didn't quite know to think of it. While I could understand Kristoff's frustrations of the overdue payment, I don't think it really was a servant's job to do this. Was it? "Kristoff…is there anyone else to help ye out? I'm sure I have work to be done."

"Uh, about that," Kristoff replied sheepishly. "There wasn't really anyone else to help and since you're the only servant guy I know that well…yeah."

I didn't say anything but place my hands on my hips and sighed. "Well, I suspect I wasn't going to get any task today anyway. Might as well get out of the castle once and a while."

The ice harvester smiled, and we were about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, did you have anything planned for your birthday?"

I had almost forgot about it after our little talk earlier. "Uh, not really. I guess I was goin' to be workin' most o' the day."

"Well good news," Kristoff smiled. "You've got the night off tomorrow."

I was taken aback by this sudden piece of news. "Wait what? I'm workin' on the night… _right_?"

I felt Kristoff gave he a friendly pat on my shoulder. "Not on your birthday. You can thank Anna for this."

"What'd ye mean?"

"Remember that whole thing with the Countess and how you got us out of that one?"

That jogged my memory. "Ahh yeah I remember, that fat bitch that gave ye grief, right?"

"Anna pulled a few strings and said as a thank you for what you did, she thought you deserved a reward. Thus, you get to go out on your birthday in the evening."

I was stunned by this action. Me, some humble servant was getting this as a treat from the _princess_ of Arendelle. It did make me feel that I had done something right for once "W…I, Kristoff…I-I don't know—"

Kristoff laughed at my reaction. "No need to. I'll pay for dinner too. Besides, I said I owe you one back then, so thus we are equal."

I had forgot he had mentioned that too and, still feeling elated by this surprise, I shook his hand in gratitude. "Damn I…Kristoff, ye may look like a shitfaced hobo, but by God ye really are one hell of a lad."

The ice harvester laughed as we headed off down the corridor. "Ah stop it, man. Anyway, come on, let's go and deal with Alrik.

Not long after that, we headed off into town with us riding on Sven's back (we hadn't bothered to bring the sleigh with us as there was no point). I must say that it was the first time I'd ever had the chance to ride on a deer and Sven seemed happy to see me when we came to the stables by giving me a friendly nuzzle, though I suspect that he only did after the mishap that happened not so long ago…

We didn't say much as Kristoff guided Sven to Alrik's store other than Kristoff muttering unflattering remarks about the troublesome Alrik and how he hoped to get this over with. My memories of seeing the man in question were slowly coming back and with it came one certain troubling thought that for _some_ reason seemed to stick out for me.

"Uh, Kristoff," I called him from behind.

"Mmm?" Kristoff grunted as he kept focusing on where we were going.

"Just remembered somethin'…have ye heard of his… _brothers_ …?"

Kristoff peered over his shoulder to look at me with a confused look. "…No, who are they?"

"I don't know if this worth anythin' but…he has two older brothers called Jorn and Kirk. Somewhat infamous characters round here."

"Uh, I haven't really met anyone of note in town since I moved into the castle...what about them? Are they bad?"

"If I can remember, _brutal_ ," I shuddered. "They do a lot of underground criminal work and can scare people into making them give up. Come to think of it, no wonder Alrik has gotten away for so long if he has those two backin' him up."

Kristoff's brow furrowed in thought. "You sure about this?"

"One thing that sticks out," I replied. "No idea what they look like, but I hope they perhaps have mellowed since then…hopefully."

We didn't say anything as we thought about a potential dirty situation we were about to step in to, it was only until we arrived outside of the store that Kristoff broke the silence as he got off Sven. "Don't know what to say about that, Aiden. Maybe not a bad thing you're here as you might be able to knock sense into Alrik getting my money back. Won't listen to me."

" _Idiot_ ," I muttered to myself. "Alright then, Kristoff. Let's hope this goes well."

As we entered, we were greeted by the sight of a somewhat short, tubby man with a brown goatee and rather thick hair behind the counter trying to deal with one furious male customer. "You cheating scumbag!" The customer yelled and pointed to a blackboard on the wall that had lines of various odds and such there. "Those odds on that blackboard were never like that yesterday, you've been tampering with them!"

"Why on earth would I do that?" the tubby man, who I assumed was Alrik, replied. "You only bet ten and thus, according to what it says, you'll only get thirty back."

"Bullshit!" The customer snapped. "I should've been getting ninety-five for this you lying, cheapskate, hijacking son of a—"

"I request you to leave," Alrik interrupted coolly. "I won't have such language in my store."

Both me and Kristoff were surprised to see the man at first go from sheer anger to suddenly look defeated but still bitter nonetheless as he sadly made his way to the door; though he made one final comment at him saying, "This isn't over yet fat bastard!" His mood changed when he went past us and muttered quietly then, "don't deal with him, he's a rotten cheat."

With that said, he left the store and left me and Kristoff making nervous glances at each other as we tried to figure out just what had happened there. "God, what a time to arrive," I whispered to Kristoff and we looked over at Alrik who at first was rubbing off one such odd and placing a newer one up on the board.

Seems that this guy was playing dirty tricks. Neither of us knew what to say until Alrik finally seem to notice us (we were funnily enough the _only_ ones in the store) and smiled. "Ah! Good day gentleman, how can I…oh." I could see his mood change when his gaze on Kristoff standing next to me. "If this is about your money, then no I don't have it right now, but I will get it soon."

Kristoff was about to make an angry comment when I stepped in to try and defuse a potential brawl. "Sir, I mean, _Alrik_ , remember me?"

"Huh? Who're you?" Alrik asked looking bemused at me.

"Remember my old man, Andrew? I'm his son, Aiden, remember that wee laddie that use to come in here?" I stated and hoped he'd memorise me.

His expression became one of thought as he tried to jog his memory of me. It took him a moment but then his eyes widened. "What a minute…Aiden _Fergusson_?" I nodded and this caused him to gleefully smile. "Aiden boy! Lord, it's been years since I saw you. You've gotten big!"

"Aye, been a long time," I replied, and Kristoff motioned me to get on with the deal. "Anyway, I need to talk with you over somethin', quite urgent."

To our surprise he seemed willing to accept my offer and waved me in to come to the back of the store. "Why of course kid. Happy to help you in any way I can."

Kristoff gave me a thumbs up and I followed Alrik through a curtain door an into the backroom, it seemed that my presence might've been all that was needed in order to help Kristoff get his money back. Inside there were piles of boxes and a desk with files and betting slips on it, though I hadn't expected to see a rather voluptuous brunette woman round the back who was at first busy stacking some papers away and her face lit up when Alrik appeared in the room and she then wrapped her arms round for the two to have an intimate embrace.

The woman, whoever she was, was somewhere in her mid-twenties while he was well into his late forties and I had to wonder what was going between them with such an obvious age gap. Were they related or in a relationship? I was tempted to pry into this, but I remembered what I was here for and glancing through the doorframe, half covered by curtains, Kristoff was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and no doubt hoping I could pull something off.

No pressure there.

Looking back at the hugging pair, the two of them were giggling and making small intimate talk with each other while I as subtle as possible tried to get Alrik's attention, which he did seem to finally acknowledge me when he pulled away from the girl. "Just hold on a minute sweetheart," he said to her and faced me. "So then, how are you doing, kid? Been like what…few years?"

"I'm fine, sir," I rambled. "Can we talk about his money now?"

"Listen kid," Alrik began. "I remember you when you were a small fry, you were nice to me and I've been nice to you but right now there is something unreasonable going on. Your friend, _Kristoff_ , has surely no idea that my finance situation is looking horrendous right now that I have nothing to pay—what's that dear?"

His wife/girlfriend/mistress or whoever the hell you want to call her, started whispering in his ear, rather sensually I might add, about something in which made his mood change. "Oh yeah, would you put thirty on _Lucky Star_ in tonight's race, babe?"

Cue me facepalming. Not only was this guy a blatant liar and cheat, but also had the nerve to lie right in front of my face about his so-called money woes. No wonder Kristoff hated this guy's guts and it didn't fill me with hope that I could do any better to get Alrik cough up the money he was clearly hiding. As soon as the woman left the room to head round to head outside, Alrik began speaking again to me.

"Listen, why does he have the nerve to come in here with that Official 'Ice Master and Deliver' title demanding his pay? Is he something special that the queen gave that fancy title and does that make me something of interest to the queen? What title is she going to give if I pay? Arendelle's Official Shithead for Hire?"

"Alrik _please_ ," I pleaded with him. "You know you owe Kristoff his money, just pay him."

"I didn't agree to pay for a specified date, what am I fuckin' nuts? Come on!"

"For God's sake man!" I begged him and glanced over to Kristoff to see he was growing increasingly annoyed at Alrik's attempts to wiggle his way out of paying. "What are you tryin' to do, have a fight with Kristoff? We're not asking for that! All we're sayin' is give him the money you owe him and that'll be that!"

But the stubborn man that he was wasn't going to give up. "No, fuck him! Fuck in the ear and fuck him in the other ear that stupid blonde son of a bitch! Did I offend him or something, did I? Is that why he keeps coming back?"

"Alrik—"

"Does he think I can drop everything for _this_?!"

"Alrik come on…"

"Thinks he can do whatever he wants that he that dyke whore of a princess by his side? Is that why?"

This time he'd gone too far. From the corner of my eye I could see Kristoff storming up to where we were and after all that had been said from Alrik, what he had said about Anna had been the final straw for Kristoff. I could only imagine the sight of Kristoff beating Alrik into a bloody pulp over his comments, even if perhaps the stubborn buffoon possible deserved what was coming to him.

That all said, I was still trying to act a peacemaker in the hope that Alrik would finally show us the money. "Alrik, you're talking crazy here, just pay _please_!"

Then Kristoff came in, looking absolutely _furious_ , and from inside the satchel bag he was carrying, he pulled out one of his ropes for his ice harvesting work and without warning, he snuck up behind Alrik (being much taller than him) and began to strangle him with it. At that point I should've been horrified of Kristoff doing something that was so unlike him, but I didn't. Instead I found myself laughing uproariously at it.

When the rope was flung over Alrik's head, part of it caught his hair and what happened next caused me to lose it. That thick, luscious brown hair he had turned out to be nothing more than a toupee and it was dragged forward to cover half of Alrik's face. It was such a black comedy moment that the combination of many elements made me double over and I had to calm myself as best as I could to try and speak.

"Kr-Kristoff, he's g-gonna pa…" I chuckled and really couldn't help myself. Was it a mean scene? Yeah, but as I said before, that guy deserved it.

"Don't you _dare_ say that about Anna, you hear me?!" Kristoff growled in a way that was so unlike him. "If you say one more thing about her about her..."

"I'm sorry!" Alrik begged as he tried to pull the rope from his neck. "I'll pay, I'll pay, I'll _PAY_!"

Kristoff seemed to let his grip loosen as Alrik breathed again. "I…It's over there, the safe. Here" He pointed to a fairly large oak set of draws and from his pocket pulled out a small key for the lock on it. Wasting no time, Kristoff grabbed the key and headed to the draws to collect the money he needed.

When he opened it, we were stunned to see that not only did have money lying there, but the guy was fully _loaded_ with the stuff. To think this was where all the money Alrik had swindled from had ended up, at least here Kristoff was getting what was rightly his.

As he began collecting the money needed, I turned to look at blue faced Alrik, now rubbing his sore neck, and grinned. "Well, that's karma for you. If you weren't such a cheatin' scumbag this'll never had happened. Hopefully that's a lesson for you."

Alrik glared at me, still with his wig covering half of his face and said nothing. Before long a satisfied Kristoff walked by with his overdue money now in his satchel and headed out of the store and I followed suite. As we exited the store with a feeling like we had climbed a large mountain, Sven came over to us to see how we'd gotten on.

" _Did you get it_?" Kristoff spoke in Sven's 'voice' as the deer came up to us.

"Yep, we finally got it," Kristoff 'replied' and patted the satchel bag in which jingling sound of the money could be heard for Sven.

"I will say that was rather…unlike you," I added with a bit of hesitation in my voice. "But hey, you got your money back so there's that."

" _Yeah_ ," Kristoff admitted sheepishly as he climbed up on Sven's back. "I didn't mean to do that. Just what he said about Anna I—"

"Ah, it's alright lad," I assured him as I too climbed up on Sven's back to sit behind Kristoff. "To be honest if he'd said that about my lass, I'd do it too. It was his own fault in the end, though it was pretty funny with his wig."

"Thanks anyway for being a help," Kristoff added.

"What are ye on about?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Ye most of the work makin' him cough up the money while I just stood there and pissed myself laughin'."

We both began to chuckle remembering about the stray wig and Sven gave us a curious expression as to wonder what had happened in there. Kristoff would likely explain it to Sven later, but right now all that was on our mind was to get back to the castle. We felt a sense of achievement as Sven trotted off to home, though my good mood suddenly went down as a disturbing thought came to me regarding two certain brothers…

" _Shite_ …" I muttered.

"What's wrong?" Kristoff asked.

"I've just remembered about his two older brothers."

"You mean, what's their names, Jorn and Kirk is it?"

"Aye those two. Christ, I think we're in for it now…"

The tall blonde man looked back at me with an apprehensive look. "W…What are you trying to say…?"

I could feel my stomach twisting in knots the more I thought about the potential situation that could befall us. "I hope to God to I'm wrong about this but…he might come runnin' to them askin' to, ye know, deal with us after what we, or rather, _you_ did…"

Our mood changed and neither us knew what to think and we remained silent for the rest of the journey back to the castle, it was almost like we were scared to say anything that might come true. It was only as we were crossing the stone bridge connecting to the castle that Sven broke the silence.

"Huh?" Kristoff muttered as Sven replied with a series of grunts which only Kristoff seemed to know. "Yeah, you're right, Sven."

"What's he sayin'?" I asked.

Kristoff turned his head back to look at me. "He's saying that we shouldn't worry about that just now. Besides, it is your birthday tomorrow. Try thinking of that."

Hearing that did slightly raise my mood, at least there was something to look forward to. "Thanks…hopefully it'll be a nice relaxing day for me."

Little did I or anyone knew then, it wouldn't be quite relaxing...

As I had been giving the night off, something in which I had to ask Kai upfront to know if this was the truth in which he did confirm this; it was quite a strange feeling to have a shorter work day. One disappointing thing was though that I didn't really know the other servant and maids that well and I received no cards from them, granted I would do the occasional small talk with them while at work, but none of them I could really call a friendship. That was something I'd have to put do as a new year's resolution no doubt.

I did though get cards from Kristoff, Anna, Olaf and surprisingly even Elsa gave me one. I never thought queens gave their servants birthday greetings though according to Anna, Elsa had started doing this to show that she was grateful for all the work we did for the royal family and it was quite a thought that Elsa, with so many treaties, papers, new laws and all sorts she had to deal with on a nearly daily basis, was willing to take time out to write a birthday card to any of her servants. Then again, I suspected that after shutting herself away for thirteen years, this must've been her way of making up for all that.

That really did make us feel appreciative that we worth something and that she'd never look down on us but as people and doubt that many of us would repay her by giving her birthday cards for her birthday the following month.

But to go back on topic, the day had been normal for the most part as I did my duties and whenever I passed someone in one of the corridors or working alongside someone, they always gave me a brief birthday greeting and hoped I'd have a good day. Towards the end of the day, Anna and Kristoff would give me presents with Kristoff giving me a fire crystal, curtesy of his troll family, while Anna to my utter shock, gave me a large bottle of whisky complete with even tartan wrapping paper on it! Don't ask _how_ she'd gotten the whiskey, but no way was she going to let me forget the fact that my birthday shared the same date as St Andrew's day. ("Is this going to be a similar thing every year?" I asked her.)

"I do have another surprise for you," Anna piped up after I stored my gifts away in my room as evening was fast approaching.

"And that is?" I asked with a hint of suspicion.

"Ah, that'd ruin the surprise!" Anna giggled. "All I will say is that you'll find out when we get to the restaurant!"

I would speculate what was being planned as I was getting ready for the night ahead, though I was still quite dumbfounded that I was getting this treat from the princess of Arendelle. Was really putting vile Countesses in their place was all that was needed to get you friendships? If so then then who knows where I'd end up after all this if I keep this up.

It was just after half past six in the evening and in the castle courtyard, Anna and Kristoff were there waiting for me though I was left thinking that more should've been here. "Um, beg pardon but should there be more?" I asked.

" _Yeah_ , about that," Anna grimaced awkwardly. "Elsa has been called away for a meeting at the last minute and Olaf has taken Sven to look for Christmas decorations."

" _Christmas_?" I spluttered. "Bit early is it?"

Kristoff nodded. "Yeah, but he seems keen on doing it and…sorry your parents couldn't be here and it's just us."

"Naw, don't be too hard on yourselves," I assured them. "Something's ye can't control. At least having ye two here is better than nothin'. Thanks for all this."

As we headed off with Anna and Kristoff leading the way, the couple were holding hands as we walked and seeing them act close by whispering words of affection to each other plus the occasional peck on the cheek or lips, it did give me a funny thought that I'm sure they might've not realised what they were doing. Here I was acting as the third wheel to Anna and Kristoff on my _birthday_ , couldn't make this up, right?

Still I honestly didn't mind it, if everyone was happy then all was good, and I only wanted that for my birthday. It didn't take us long to reach the restaurant in question and I was left staggered at what I saw. "Bloody hell, I didn't think it would be one of the fancy ones in town. Is _this_ the surprise?"

"Not yet," Anna winked as she led us in. Oh yeah, another thing, after many years since I was wee lad walking past it with my Dad and never getting the chance to go in due to it being expensive, to stand inside of the place after all these years was something of a thrill, let alone actually having a _meal_ in there.

It was a busy evening there with many customers and staff members either bowed or curtsying when they saw the crown princess of Arendelle appear and we quickly led to our table by one of the waiters. Anna did look the part to fit in that place with the way she was dressed, though me and Kristoff despite our best efforts to dress smart casual looked a bit out of sorts with the rest there and it did get us some dirty looks from a few of the customers.

Coming to think of it, not a bad thing Olaf and Sven hadn't turned up as I wonder if they would've been allowed in. Then again when you are the crown princess of Arendelle, you could do or get anything you want I suppose. As we were sited down with Kristoff and Anna sitting opposite me, I took the time to stare around me at the place and still come to the realisation that I was actually here and we'd even managed to get a table just beside this big window which overlooked the fjord and the full moon glistering on the water did help create a stunning image. I didn't know what my reaction must've been like, but it was making Anna giggle.

"Has it sunk in yet?" She grinned.

"Almost," I replied as I looked out at the big window. "I will say your highness, you certainly know where to pick the right places."

"Tonight, I'm just Anna, no need to call me anything else." She replied, then saw the waiter come over with the menus and that mischievous gleam in her blue eyes appeared. "Ah ha! You're about to find out your surprise, Aiden!"

"Where is it?"

"Read it in the menu."

I gave Kristoff a look as to ask him what was going on and he simply gave me a shrug of his shoulders as if to say he'd no idea either as to what his girlfriend had planned. Doing as Anna requested, I read through the main courses and near the bottom and to my astonishment, there on the menu was something that in all the years I've lived in Arendelle that I never thought It'd ever see there.

"Wait, we've got… _Haggis_? When did this become a thing here…?" I looked up to Anna who only gave me a sly wink, now I was starting to realise what was going on. "Oh, ye clever lassie. Don't be tryin' to steal my heart now because ye set this up."

This caused the couple to laugh and I began to think that beneath that bubbly and extrovert exterior that was Anna, she was possibly a closet master dealer who knew more than she let on and I did wonder if Elsa knew any of this. Either way, the fact I was about to get a small taste of home was very much welcomed for my birthday.

The rest of the evening went very well as one would hope. We got our meals and drinks (no guessing as to what I had to eat) and chatted well on about each other in which Kristoff and Anna told me the story of how they met and all the various adventures they'd been up since starting to court. I did explain to them about my old life before coming to Arendelle in which I hadn't brought up before to either of them, though it did make me feel rather melancholy when I came to the part about my cheating mother and what she did to me and Dad.

Kristoff felt particularly sad about this tale with him bringing up the topic about his _actual_ mother and not his troll family and how he never knew her with him making the comment of how he thought for many years that 'reindeers are better than people'. To be honest, I suppose the ice harvester wasn't exactly far of with that point of view.

Anna didn't need to bring up about her late parents as we only knew too well how it was still a sore and personal subject for Anna and her sister, though she did admit then of how they would've liked to have seen both of us, especially Kristoff who in that moment, made a rather sneaky remark of how, if they were still alive would like to see him propose to her soon with her leaving the comment with some emphasis.

The sheepish look and blush on Kristoff's face were hilarious to see as Anna's sly question had put the ice harvester on the spot and he didn't know how to respond with the crown princess putting on a mock expected expression. Seeing Kristoff looking like he was needing help to get him out of that situation, I decided then to change the subject quickly.

"Actually, I don't think I told ye yet," I began which made them look back at me.

"About what?" Kristoff asked, now drawing in a sigh of relief getting out of that one.

"Haggis," I replied while glancing down at the now empty plate which only had a few traces of food left of what had been before. "I don't think I told ye yet what a Haggis is made from."

"Ooh, hang on," Anna piped up and leaned forward slightly like an excited kid (then again, she always did act like one mind you). "Is it something to do with mixing things together? Can't remember exactly though."

"Yer close there," I nodded. "It's a sheep's lung, heart or liver placed inside the sheep's stomach and mashed together, quite nice it is."

Kristoff looked on unfazed while Anna in contrast looked utterly _mortified_. "W-W-It's what?!"

"It's sheep stuff…somethin' wrong?"

The redhead princess stared at me as if I had said perhaps the most offensive thing imaginable. "That's…that…eww. Now I really don't want to try any in future…"

Kristoff then spoke up. "I wouldn't mind having—"

"Kristoff!"

"Alright, alright I won't. Though you do after hearing about it look rather _sheepish_."

" _Kristoff_!"

I couldn't help but laugh at their interaction, such a fun couple that I could see were perfect for each other. At that point, I stood up and prepared to leave the table. "Anyway, if you don't mind I need to head to the bathroom. Where are they again?"

"Near the entrance to the kitchen, can't miss it," Anna replied, her voice rather weary sounding.

"Thanks," I acknowledged and headed off, though as I was leaving I could hear the couple having a minor debate over haggis with Kristoff trying to reason with her that it might not sound bad while Anna was dead set against having one.

 _The crown princess and her ice harvester boyfriend engaging in a lover's spat over a damn_ haggis _. Who knew?_

I didn't want to get involved with any couple argument so leaving at this moment might've not been a bad idea. Though when I did enter the male bathroom to use one of the cubicles, I happened to hear two men chatting in the corner of the room about a certain matter.

"Did you hear what they did?" A low toned voice asked.

"Yeah," replied the voice of a slightly higher pitched tone. "They came in and strangled him. All for what?"

"Debts he was due. Still no reason to attack poor Alrik like that."

My heart began thumping as I heard Alrik's name. No, surely not here, could it?

"No one harms family like that. Do you remember who it was that harmed him?"

"Not sure, Kirk. Was it Christopher and Allan or something? Need to ask Alrik again about that."

 _Kirk_. Hearing that name made my blood turn to ice and even though I was inside this cubical with them likely not knowing I was here, I was absolute terrified that my worse fears looked set to become a reality.

"Ah well then, Jorn. Sooner we deal with those two hoodlums the better. Going to rather enjoy this getting revenge."

With that said, I could hear the two brothers leave the bathroom and I sat there on the toilet feeling myself starting to sweat. Did they know we were in this restaurant? I hope not and even by the time they left, I felt too scared to even open the door to the cubicle I was in for a moment in case they might so happen to be hiding and suddenly come out of nowhere.

With a cautious twist of the lock, I slowly peered through the gap in the door and saw they had indeed gone and I let a shaky sigh and rubbed away some of the nervous sweat on my forehead. I knew then that if the Dahl brothers found us, both me and Kristoff were surely in for it now. Tonight had truly been a night of birthday surprises, one being a nice one and this one being a rather frightening one, just my damn luck. I didn't know what to do then and even the fact me and Kristoff lived in the castle, even that didn't bother the brothers as they always get their way.

And that would be the case next month…

* * *

 **Uh oh, trouble's brewing! Anyway there we go and if you've noticed by now, each chapter so far is being done in months and thus the next one will be in December, but it won't be a Christmas themed chapter for once. Instead we will be seeing something rather different. hope this was alright and what might happen to Aiden and Kristoff in the next chapter...find out soon...**


	8. It's Only My Job After all

**Finally got this up and boy was my writers block a pain in the backside! I do apologise getting this up as late as it is due to other commitments I have to do such as work and the viewing of a new flat my girlfriend and I are looking into. This chapter also turned out to be longer that I expected and I do feel I need to make more shorter chapters as I do have a habit of explaining a bit much.**

 **But anyway, without further ado, it's time for an (un)happy new year in Arendelle...**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **It's Only My Job After All**

Remember the Dahl brothers who I just so happened to encounter while in the restaurant bathroom? Thankfully neither me and Kristoff saw them that evening, though I decided to keep quiet on the matter despite Anna and Kristoff noticing I was looking on edge when we left the restaurant.

Nonetheless just after my birthday would see December arrive in Arendelle and with came the first natural winter that wasn't caused by cursed queens. It had also been quite a busy month with Christmas around the corner, but also it so happened that Elsa celebrated her twenty second birthday. Despite her fears that her royal subjects might act lukewarm to her, all of Arendelle came together to let her know how much we cared for her; even though she did cause an eternal winter, nearly froze us to death, create strange snow creatures and froze her sister's heart. Other than that, it was all good.

Christmas Eve proved to be quite an eventful one for our resident snowman, Olaf, who throughout the month could hardly contain himself that Christmas was near and whenever any of us in castle by say a suit of armour or large flower pot, Olaf would jump out and shout 'Surprise!' to us and often give us heart attacks. It was also by chance the first time the two sisters would celebrate Christmas together for the first time since Elsa locked herself away, though the queen was rather upset that because of the time she and Anna had been separated, they never had a Christmas tradition.

This is when things went a little crazy for Olaf when, feeling sorry for them, he decided to go out into Arendelle with Sven in order to try and find a Christmas 'tradition', however it was possible. After a long and, quite honestly, _hopeless_ endeavour, Olaf would get lost and this would result in many of us going out to try and find that snowman. We would eventually find him, and the two sisters would explain to him that _he_ was their new Christmas tradition, and everyone seemed happy because of it, though Olaf seemed rather fond of some fruitcake he had discovered on his travels calling that a Christmas miracle.

Don't ask.

For Kristoff sadly, it seemed like our Ice Harvester's Christmas was ruined because Olaf had 'acquired' his sleigh that Anna had given him after the Great Thaw and in the process saw it unfortunately destroyed. I did feel bad for Kristoff as it was a very nice sleigh Anna had given him, yet despite it being Christmas Eve and with frankly no time left, Anna seemed to move heaven and earth to help boyfriend's predicament when against all the odds on Christmas Day, she had _somehow_ managed to give Kristoff another new sleigh, this time with _two_ cup holders.

Exactly why she thought an extra cup holder was worth it seemed to baffle me as whenever I had seen Kristoff with his previous sleigh he had never once used the one cup holder he had on that, so what he would use an extra one for seemed a mystery to me. Still, he was delighted that he managed to receive a worthwhile Christmas present and it was nice to see how much Anna and Kristoff looked out for each other.

Christmas also was a welcome time for us to leave the confines of the castle and back into the town were us servants could be with our families and I was able to catch up with Dad and Olga since I moved out. Not much to say other than mention that Dad got utterly drunk on Christmas Day and ended throwing up on our Christmas tree, much to Olga's horror. Then again privately, I also thought our Christmas tree did look rather crap, but that's another story…

Anyway, not long after Christmas passed, everyone was now starting to look forward for the new year and you'd think at this point that the only thing that I'd talk about is simply welcoming the new year with friends and maybe having a few drinks. That would be where you'd be wrong on New Year's Eve…

The day had started with me helping Gerda, one of the maids working in the castle, over setting out tables, plates and cutlery ready for the New Year meal that was to happen tomorrow and the reason for setting it up now was that if we got it ready now then we wouldn't need to work much tomorrow. There were several others helping out, but I found myself sharing a fair bit of small talk with Gerda over this time as talked about various matters such as our own family lives, what we did before we became servants and what we were hoping for in the new year.

I did enjoy her company as she was one of the longest serving members of Royal staff who had been here since Elsa and Anna were born and she told me several tales of what happened in those early years which are all worth stories in themselves.

As we finished with preparation and with everything for the day ahead, Gerda was telling me one rather amusing story that happened over Christmas (she was one of the few who stayed to work in the castle over that period) that involved Anna.

"Are ye serious?" I laughed in disbelieve upon Gerda telling me what it entailed.

"I'm definite about that," Gerda replied. "Right during the Christmas dinner, Kristoff had a gift for Princess Anna which was a song he wrote for her and first sang it to her over dinner on his lute. Well…not only did she love it, she wanted to show him how much by, dare I say, kissing him rather…passionately. All over the food."

"Wow…wasn't a mistletoe all that couples needed at Christmas?" I inquired as the thought of the scene seem to burn in my head, though I couldn't help but chuckle. "What happened with poor Kristoff? Can't imagine Elsa reacted well to this."

Gerda sighed, though I suspected she herself thought of the scene rather amusing too. "Oh, the poor man. I suppose in the end he rather enjoyed it but didn't quite expect his gift to go down _that_ well. And for the Queen, well, she was just as shocked as you can imagine, especially when they started rolling over the desserts on the table. What a state that was."

I about doubled over and nearly fell of the chair I was sitting on with laughter. "Christ, what a pair! That pretty shows how well suited they are for each other."

"And to think that Princess Anna is all grown up," Gerda reflected and sighed. "Feels like yesterday that she was only five. Now she's doing all _that_ …"

"Well, regardless what ye might think, I do owe her a lot." I smiled.

"About you getting this job?"

"Oh aye. Don't know where I'd be right now if she didn't give me this job." We were both silent for a while and didn't know what to say, the two royal sisters did mean a lot to all us servants. I then thought of something else to add. "By the way, Gerda. Take it yer workin' here for the night?"

"That's correct," Gerda answered. "It'll be the first year I can remember in which both sisters will celebrate the new year. Hopefully Olaf won't go missing again like over Christmas."

"Let's hope not," I chortled. "But aye, I'm here for the evenin' too, my Dad an' step mum are goin' out for the night to see Dad's pal at the docks, old Sammy. Acordin' to Dad, Sammy has been plannin' this party all week and claims it'll have fireworks and galore. Quite jealous I'll say so."

Gerda placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Aiden remember we're all here too. Strangely enough I've noticed that since Queen Elsa and Princess Anna reunited and are now closer than ever, oddly enough the rest of the staff have all feel a stronger bond forming between us all."

She did have a point there, even though I wasn't exactly close with the other members of royal staff, we all shared a great camaraderie among each other and after the last few years in which a dark cloud seemed to hang over Arendelle following the loss of the late King and Queen, everyone's lives just seemed to turn a little brighter all for the best.

"Another thing I forgot to say," Gerda remembered.

"Oh? What's that?"

"It is a small thing but…thanks for being here."

To say I wasn't expecting this would be an understatement. "I-I'm sorry, what?"

"For helping here," Gerda explained. "Hardly anyone had forgetting about what you did with that _Countess_." They way she said 'Countess' with emphasis pretty much revealed that she like many in the castle didn't hold that woman in high regard.

"They're still goin' on about that?" I asked with bemusement. "Ye'd think no one else had thought of doin' just that."

"Funny you should say that, I don't think anyone _has_ since I started working here years ago," Gerda laughed. "But back to my point. It is nice to see a young face working here considering how old the rest of us are round here. You might not think about it, but you truly are a wonderful help for us and here's hoping you're here for the long haul with us as we approach New Year."

Hearing this left me blown over. I don't even remember ever getting a compliment for anything, but to receive one from one of the older serving members of Royal Staff was really something. "Wow…I don't…no problem, just doin' my job for the Queen an' all that."

We stood there in silence with neither of us knowing what to say, then I saw the time on the grandfather clock at the other end of the large room. "Ahh. Anyway, Gerda, must be off. Duty calls elsewhere."

I turned to leave knowing that help would be needed out in the courtyard with preparations there. "Take care, Aiden," Gerda replied. "And once again, thanks."

At last, I did honestly feel like I was fitting in somewhere. And I hearing those words of support from the older woman made me smile like an idiot for the rest of the day.

What should've been quite a straight forward job of new decorations coming today and putting them up proved to be nothing more than a headache. The new decorations arriving by sea by the afternoon (the older new year set had oddly gone missing and no knew why or when) and it was hoped to have them ready by the evening for the citizens of Arendelle to witness them in the courtyard. Things would take a turn for the worse when the ship arrived late…well late, as in ten that **evening**.

Needless to say, Elsa and Anna weren't exactly happy of how late the ship had been despite the captain of the ship apologising profusely over how late they were due to what he claimed to be missing documents for other goods items that were onboard. Can't exactly remembered what went on, but nonetheless once the decorations arrived, all of us servants got to work quickly in getting it ready as fast as we could.

Huge credit most go to the other servants who all went all out their way in order to get it set up and I did my part in helping and with such the groundswell of support of nearly all the castle staff wanting to make up for lost time that we managed to get it all set up with half an hour to spare before midnight. Pretty much everywhere who helped all earned a pay rise alone and by the time it was finished, the first of many guests from the town entered the courtyard and the atmosphere of many people began to build up.

It looked now set to be a good night.

That all being said, there were still a few things to get sorted with some decorations needing adjusting with me standing on a ladder trying to tighten one set of ribbons that had come loose with some help from Kristoff who was holding the ladder for me.

"Ye think that look's tight to ye?" I asked Kristoff from the top of the ladder.

"Look's fine," Kristoff muttered. "If you ask me, it all looks secure from here. Think you're being too paranoid about it."

I shrugged and glanced the other notes nearby. "Maybe, bud. But there's no harm in bein' absolutely sure."

Kristoff was about to respond when we then both noticed Elsa and Anna coming towards us through the crowd and many Arendelle citizens bowed or said 'your majesty' to them as they passed. We were quite surprised to see them as we thought they were dealing with other matters.

"Your highnesses," I greeted and tried my best to bow while on top of a ladder. "And…happy belated New Year when it comes."

"Thank you," Elsa smiled and glanced around. "I still can't believe after what happened earlier that you've all managed to get all this done."

"Just doin' our job," I replied. "Not sure much needs to be done here though."

Then Anna flashed one of his infamous mischievous grins as she looked up at the streamers where I was at and started giggling like a naughty school girl. "That knote by your left needs to be tightened."

"I told you Kristoff!" I called out at him. "Never take chances!"

The blonde ice harvester threw his arms up in frustration. "Oh, come _on_ , it looks fine!"

"And that one on your right could do with some adjusting," Elsa suddenly added, with a cheeky grin of her own, and this caused Anna to burst out laughing and left me and Kristoff to look at her in disbelieve as to hear her joke was so unlike her. Then again, she must be full of New Year cheer already.

"Not you too!" Kristoff moaned.

"Never mind that," I groaned. "Just do as they say…so much for that."

I glanced down to see the sisters sharing a giggle among each other, I could see it was all nothing more than fun banter. Nonetheless I got to work trying to get one knot of ribbons to tighten up, though I was stretching myself out a bit in order to try and get it.

"Uh, Aiden?" Kristoff pipped up. "Do you think it's a wise idea to move the ladder first?"

"Naw it's fine," I assured him. "I've almost got it." Truth be told was that I was looking quite precarious as I managed to get my hand on the knots.

"Kristoff's right," Anna added, her voice now with a hint of concern in it. "You do look pretty high up from here."

"I'm only six feet off the ground," I replied. "Besides, just need one more grip on it and—"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

"Ooyah _bastard_!" I cried and lost my balance causing me to land on top of an unfortunate Kristoff below. As bad as it was, I did have something soft to land on.

"Ow, damn it!" Kristoff grimaced in pain and rolled off him quickly, though I did feel a pain on my arm on where I landed.

Me and the two sisters without a moment's pause quickly helped Kristoff to his feet. "Are you alright?!" Anna asked with concern as she held a grip on his arm.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine," Kristoff murmured. "Aiden doesn't weigh much anyway."

"Watch it bud," I glared then turned my gaze over at whoever made that sudden cry just now. It was a male voice, but it did sound familiar. "Hey, you pal, don't ye be doin' that when folk are…"

Then I paused in surprise when there before us was a familiar older man and woman, with the woman having blonde hair and looked a bit younger than the man who had thick brown beard and hair, who in that moment looked rather guilty at his actions and the woman giving the man an angry frown at his actions. I knew quickly who it was…

"Dad? Olga? W-What're ye doin' here?"

"Damn it, son I'm sorry. Didnae mean tae scare ye like that." Dad apologised.

"It's alright, Dad," I said and waved it off. "As long as I haven't broken my neck, I'm ok."

"Did hurt me though," Kristoff remarked quietly.

To say it was something of an awkward reunion would be something of an understatement as I hadn't expected to see them after all this time and things seemed to get a little stranger when from out of one of his deep pockets on his brown jacket was a small whiskey bottle and began to take a mouthful of the stuff.

"Hang on Dad, leave it for midnight!"

"Ach shush, it'll be that time soon enough."

"Seriously I'd rather not drink right now," I said and looked over to Elsa and Anna standing there who seemed rather bewildered of what was actually their and my parents' first encounter in the flesh. Olga realised who they were her eyes widened and quickly bowed saying, 'your majesty' to them. My Dad quickly caught on who he was in the presence with and copied Olga's actions just then.

"Sorry 'bout a' this," Dad said after he bowed. "It's a pleasure tae see ye twa up close."

Elsa responded in her usual regal tone. "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Fergusson."

"Ye can call me, Andrew, or Andy, I dinae mind," Dad grinned, and Olga feigned a look of suspicion at what her husband was planning on doing. "The lads at the docks say that ye're a real bonnie lassie, but I'd say yer a bonnie woman if I say so—"

"Andrew!" Olga snapped and I looked away embarrassed. It was one thing having your Dad embarrass you like that in public, but to act like in front of the _Queen_ of Arendelle and who just so happened to be technically my boss…

Anna did flash me a look of concern, but I couldn't bare to look at Elsa as I didn't quite know how to respond, though Olga was quick to put Dad in his place. "Your son is right, you shouldn't be drinking at this point, how could you?"

"I only had one drink before we left," Dad retorted. "I'm not that drunk, lass."

"Since Christmas you've really gone mad on drink," Olga lamented.

At this point I could sense an argument about to brew and not willing to get anymore unwanted attention, I spoke up. "Never mind a' that, what the hell ye two doin' here anyway? Weren't you supposed to be at Sammy's place for that party?"

Thankfully this stopped Dad and Olga's potential conflict, and both looked at me with Olga speaking first. "That's right, that was the plan originally. But when we got there…he…"

"The silly bastard had gone tae his bed," Dad finished for Olga. "So, with nowhere tae go, we thought 'why not come here?' And so...hope none o' ye dinae mind."

Trying her best to be welcoming as possible, Anna smiled. "Of course not, Mr Fergusson. The gates are open for everyone tonight."

"Ah thank ye dear," Dad grinned. "Ye know where the drinks might be?"

"God sake, Andrew!" Olga snapped, now looking to be on the last of her nerves. "What is _wrong_ with you tonight?!"

Seeing as my Dad was…somewhat intoxicated, I decided to help once again. "How about I show you the way…" I gave a sly wink over at Olga to show what I was planning. "It's this way, Dad."

Truth be told I didn't know if any alcohol was on show let alone where it might be, but what I could do was to help get my Dad out of the way to avoid any potential crass comments he might unintentionally make in front of royalty. I just couldn't understand what had gone on with Dad this evening as this wasn't him, though Olga seemed to quickly catch on what I was doing shared a look of relief.

"Where about lad?" Dad questioned as I led him away.

"Erm, find them by the stables…aye, that's right," I rambled.

Anyone would've guessed by the tone of my voice that I was lying, but thankfully my Dad didn't seem to question this and gave me a thankful pat on the back and headed in the direction with Olga following behind him before she muttered 'thanks' and 'sorry' to me and the others she headed after Dad.

Once they were away, I was feeling self-conscious by it all, Kristoff looked sympathetic towards me and the two sisters were possibly trying to figure out what had just happened. "Um…I'm so sorry 'bout this. Dad's never like this…" I muttered sadly.

"It's ok," Kristoff replied. "I know what it's like to have a loud family that can be, well, embarrassing."

I flashed a small smile at him. "Maybe. At least yer family hasn't done such daft things in front of royalty, right?"

Hearing that, Kristoff gave an uncomfortable look that seemed to hint otherwise which left me confused and Anna on the other hand seemed to remember something funny, had something happened? Then again it possibly wasn't important as Anna spoke up just then. "One question, Aiden. Is your Dad always a bit, you know…?" She then mimed someone with a bottle who was tipsy and her actions I did find rather amusing.

"Never actually," I admitted. "He's always been rather good holdin' his drink as far as I can remember, since Christmas though it's all started then." I then looked at Elsa and Anna. "And once again…sorry your highnesses."

"It's ok," Anna replied in a comforting tone. "If that's the only negative thing about tonight, then we're all good."

"No need to apologise," Elsa added. "I will add that due to his accent, I didn't quite understand his… _compliment_."

 _Thank God for my fellow countrymen's difficult accent to any foreign ears._

I couldn't help but grin hearing this, Elsa did have a subtle sense of humour that you wouldn't exactly expect from a Queen but nonetheless was quite welcoming. Kristoff and Anna couldn't help but chuckle too with Kristoff giving me a pat on the back. "You know, Aiden. You ought to introduce me to your Dad someday."

"Unless embarrassing ye is yer thing," I shrugged. "Be my guest then."

Just then, Elsa spoke again. "I do have a task for you, Aiden."

"Yes, yer highness?" I replied with my mindset now alert whenever I was being asked for something.

The Queen looked over towards the main gates seeing more and more people coming through as it was getting nearer to midnight. "I would like to help welcome the guests to the castle and to spot any potential troublemakers that might arrive."

"Very well yer highness," I bowed and began to head off to perform the meet and greet act by the gates. As much as I thought my Dad's actions might've been quite cringey then, it would be nothing to what I was to encounter next.

From that order and within the final five minutes before midnight, the evening had gone well with the courtyard now filled with many hundreds of Arendellian citizens all wanting to enjoy the evening and once the last of guests had arrived, I spent most of the night going round whenever guests needed help while at the same time keep an eye on troublemakers and for Dad and Olga in case anything else was to happen.

I never did spot Dad or Olga for the rest of the evening as either they had gone to a quiet spot nearby to get away from it all or that perhaps Dad might've had one too many drinks and that Olga had dragged him back home. Either way, I felt Olga had not been best pleased with Dad and I could only guess how things would down at home…most likely less said the better.

That all said, I had to get on with the rest of the evening doing my job and when the big clock nearby now read three minutes to midnight, the excitement was building, and you could feel it all over the courtyard. As much I was wanting to enjoy the moment myself, I couldn't help but noticed three late guests arrive at the gates and one of them was a certain tubby individual which I only knew too well. Alrik.

My heart began to beat fast as I remembered what his two older brothers had said back on my birthday about dealing with me and Kristoff, though I had worrying thoughts that they might be more interested in dealing with the Ice Harvester than me.

From where I was, I could see Kristoff and Anna having a good laugh about something nearby one of the food tables and enjoying the night. Thankfully due to the thick crowd, the Dahl brothers couldn't see them but it wouldn't be long until they tracked down Kristoff and do whatever they had planned.

I did consider alerting one of the guards about who these individuals were and their possible intentions, however in the anxious mindset I was in I didn't think of that and instead did perhaps one of, if not _the_ most, boneheaded choice I'll ever make.

Confront them.

You're possibly asking, why? Honestly, I don't know. I knew that these guys were only after Kristoff and me, not the royal sisters as they had nothing to do with it and probably didn't have a clue about what me and Kristoff had done. Knowing the connections that the Dahl brothers had in Arendelle's criminal underworld that if the Royal family got dragged into this, things would get hellish and would make Hans' coup look rather child friendly in comparison.

"Two minutes left!" Cried a voice from the crowd and a cheer followed as the new year due closer. I though wasn't thinking of that as I went over towards Alrik and his brothers and it was here that I had a good look at Jorn and Kirk for the first time.

They were both much taller than Alrik and were identical twins. They had thin faded blonde hair, green eyes, grim faces that would've scared anyway away and were well dressed as if they had meant to come here for the party and not for what I heard one of the twins said next.

"So, they'll be here then?" said the twin on the left with his low toned voice, his eyes scanning around.

"We're not harming the Princess and Queen, right?" Alrik questioned, standing between them. "Remember this has nothing to do with them."

"Why the devil would we want to do that?" The other twin, in his higher pitched tone, asked. "It is atrocious to harm a lady, let alone one of royalty."

Despite hearing those words, it was still technically my job to serve the royal family and if it meant putting my head out to protect Elsa and Anna then so be it. That's just what a servant is supposed to do, at least in my opinion.

The other twin added to his brother's previous statement. "You are right about that, Jorn. Find those two men who harmed Alrik and we'll…" He stopped when he saw me coming towards them and while the twins gave me a suspicious stare, Alrik's face went from a mixture of joy to disappointment, if that was even possible.

"Oh Aiden, why did you do it?" Alrik sighed sadly as if he was some disappointed teacher in his student.

This was it, the point of no return and I felt myself shaking at what I was getting myself into. "I…I suspect yer here f-for me and Kristoff?"

The one called Jorn then raised his eyebrow. "Interesting. Already one of you is willing to get this over with, impressive." He then turned his menacing gaze on the crowd. "Where is Kristoff?"

I was silent. A horrible thought came to my mind of them pinning Kristoff down and beating him to a bloody pulp while Anna would be held back and watch helplessly as her boyfriend received a fate worse than death. Granted Kristoff might've acted out of order back at that betting shop, but Alrik did deserve it and I made a final glance at the crowd in which I could just make out Anna and Kristoff holding each other close and having a good time, both unaware of who had turned up and what their intentions were.

I had to do something in order to the Dahl brothers out of here, so in the spur of the moment, I decided to lie. "He…uh, sent me out for ye to deal with, yeah."

The three brothers looked surprised with Kirk speaking first. "He sent _you_? Has he lost his nerve?"

"Not like that," I corrected them. "I believe ye guys like makin' deals and...I have one to settle this."

Kirk looked annoyed. "I don't believe this, we have no time for—"

"No, no, no," Jorn interrupted his twin. "We do have a gentleman's agreement for making deals, remember? If the boy wants to make a deal, then so be it." He then leaned forward slightly towards me. "What do you have in mind, boy?"

I drew in a sigh, knowing that what I was doing was possibly risking my own life. "Well…I can take the _whole_ beatin' if ye let Kristoff go and we'll won't bother ye again after this. Besides, seein' me in a bloody state would be enough to warn him otherwise. Right?"

Jorn and Kirk seemed to give it some consideration as they turned their back on me and huddled close to chat about it while Alrik looked viably confused at what was going on. It didn't take them long until they looked back and me and seemed to be an agreement.

"Alright then, boy," Kirk said. "If you are willing to take it for him, very well."

The two brothers then each shook my hand as they seemed willing to go ahead with this deal. Just what was I doing? Alrik gave me a stare as if to say I was crazy, though to be honest I guess he wasn't far off with that mindset.

Then almost as if reading my mind, Jorn added to the conversation. "It is rather foolish what you're doing, but I'll admit some of the bravest men have always been fools."

"One minute!" Cried someone from the cheering crowd as the new year approached. Neither did anyone in that crowd seem to realise what was going on, oh how I wish I was enjoying the party like everyone else.

"Do ye think we should, ya know, move out of the way so they won't notice us?" I then suggested.

"I'll vouch for that," Kirk agreed. "I was never one for crowds myself."

 _I wonder why…_

As the cries of the countdown began, the four of us slipped away out of the courtyard to head out towards the stone bridge were there was hardly a soul to be seen. This was it.

Fifty seconds to go. Wonder if Kristoff will surprise Anna with a proposal? Don't know if it'll be corny or cute, then again Kristoff wouldn't be going through what I decided to take for him.

Forty seconds to go. Didn't Elsa have plans for an extension to the castle? I really should've asked.

Thirty seconds to go and we were near the half way point on the bridge and we stopped here to admire the moon glistening on the fjord. Nice to take it all in before facing your fate.

Twenty seconds to go for the new year and—wonder how plastered Dad really is after a few drinks if one is anything to go by?

Fifteen seconds…ten seconds—nine—eight—maybe I can ask Alrik where he got his cheap toupee from so I can give one as a cheeky birthday gift for Kai? Poor guy going bald like that. Seven—six—I've now decided that I'm not helping Kristoff on anything with ice harvesting after this.

Five—four—three—two—one.

The cries of 'happy new year!' and the subsequent fireworks going off near the castle I didn't noticed as before I knew it, Jorn had my arms behind my back while Kirk went in and began to punch me in the ribs when then I could only cry out in pain as I felt my ribs cracking. Then he gave one punch to face that was so hard that is caused Jorn to lose his grip on me and sent me falling to the ground in which I found myself in a lot more pain by hitting the cobble tiles.

Then it all got worse. With me on the ground, the twins showed no mercy as they began kicking all over my body and it was so painful that I couldn't even cry for help as they just went on and on showing how much of a fearsome reputation they had in Arendelle.

Kirk kicked me in the jaw and Jorn seemed more interested in kicking me round my stomach and neither of them showed any emotion in what they did while Alrik looked on in shock at the beatdown taking place almost if he hadn't seen his brothers actually do this for real.

After about a minute of a nonstop beatdown, it finally stopped and Kirk gave me one final kick to the head with his leather boot that just so happened to have a sharp steal toecap on it and it ended up scraping across my forehead and not did I began bleeding from there, but also began coughing up blood from the rest of the beating that had taken place.

Laying on my side, I could see the twins step back and looked rather impassive at what they had just done while Alrik looked disturbed. Other than the cheering and the fireworks that were going on in the background, there was only silence for I don't know how long until Alrik broke the silence.

"I…I…good _God_ , he's only a kid!" Alrik cried.

"Why are you acting sorry for him?" Jorn inquired. "He wanted this, and we've only given him what he asked for. Am I right, boy?"

I could only whimper as I could feel the pain all over my body was that intense. In the end, they seemed to take my moans as a yes as Kirk and Jorn both presented a wicked grin and turned to leave.

"Thank you for that," Kirk added, "pleasure doing service and if you do see that Kristoff again, tell him not to come around to any of our family members _again_. He's a lucky fellow this time..."

They both began walking towards the town and Alrik began to warily follow them, but he paused to look back at me and I could tell he didn't want this to go like this by the devasted look on his face. He looked conflicted if he should help me or leave me lying there, in the end he made the reluctant choice of the latter and followed his brothers.

Once they had all left, I rolled on my back and blankly stared at the night sky now brimming with fireworks going off. "H-happy new year…anyone…" I managed to utter to myself.

I lay there for God knows how long, a minute, ten minutes, an hour? Either way time seemed to pass by when I heard the cheerful humming voice of a certain snowman. Hearing the voice, I turned my head over towards the sound and there was Olaf, covered in a few streamers as well as wearing one of those paper hats, waddling across the bridge minding his own business and clearly looking like he was enjoying himself.

I could only imagine that he was wanting to see the fireworks from a better view from the bridge. Then he caught sight of me and gasped in shock. "Aiden! What happened?"

"N-nothin' much. J-just a minor, ugh, argument," I uttered dryly. As I tried to sit up, I could see the blood that was rolling down my forehead and onto my clothes. I was losing a serious amount of blood and I was needing attention. "Olaf—"

He didn't need any encouragement as he hurried over to help me to my feet, though by the amount of blood that was trickling down I was more worried about that poor snowman getting covered in my own blood on his snowy body. Poor little guy.

I gave him a sad smile. "T-thanks lad, I owe ye one."

As he helped me back to the castle, he would ask me so much about what happened just now, though I didn't say anything to him since I was still shaken up by the whole thing and unsure about how to say about all this to Kristoff and the sisters. I would have to think of something to explain what had happened to me back there, but what I needed the most was medical attention.

Once again, you're asking, 'why'd you do it?' Simple, a servant must protect the royal family always and anyone close to them, e.g. Kristoff. As painful as tonight would be and perhaps the roughest way to start a new year, I have no regrets for that. In the end, It's only my job after all.

* * *

 **Aiden the chew toy. Sometimes you have your lowest moments and from then the only way is up. Anyway next chapter will be a more straight forward one in which Aiden will meet up with some of the other OC servants in this story. Hope you find this chapter alright as it was a pain to get up, so until then, see you soon!**


	9. January (Baby) Blues

**Finally I return. Sorry for the delay but with how busy my life has been of late, I have being squeezing out as much as can to get this out, but nonetheless here it is. One thing you might've noticed is that I haven't focused on the other servants so here is a chapter to try and fill that I guess it might be a welcoming one that adds more detail to the _Frozen_ lore.**

 **So off we go with a simple collection run...what could go possible wrong...?**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **January (Baby) Blues**

As far as back as I could remember I've always hated January. Just the month in general depresses me as with it being after Christmas and everything just seems bleak and cold, not to mention everyone is still hung over after New Year celebrations and the start of the year didn't prove to have any exceptions other than what happened to me just as everyone was celebrating a new year in Arendelle.

As you will recall last time, I started the new year on rather a rough note, one that involved me getting a beating from the Dahl brothers that I took for Kristoff which he had no knowledge of at that time. Thankfully of all people (or snow people), Olaf found me and helped me back to the castle in which he brought me to the castle doctor to help me back to full health and when Kristoff and the royal sisters found out what had happened to me, me and Kristoff had to explain to them what had gone down with the Dahl brothers and about Alrik's delayed payment.

Kristoff had kept quiet about the whole thing regarding the Dahl brothers thinking that nothing bad was to happen and Anna had been left angry why he hadn't told her about this, though she did forgive him when I told her that Alrik had called her 'dyke whore princess' and that Kristoff dealt with him in retaliation. Anyway, after that things seemed to settle back to normal in Arendelle as everyone went about their lives, though you'll be likely asking how I was feeling in all this due to me previously being battered to a bloody pulp.

Well for starters, I was still alive, then again, I suspect you already knew then with me writing this. However, I had bruised ribs that the doctor said I was lucky that they hadn't cracked from the beating I received, my jaw was cracked though and the pain was horrendous with the only advice I had was to let it heal over time so wherever I liked it or not, I had to get used to it. Along with a blackeye, I had also received a slash to my forehead that required stitching which meant wearing a bandage around my head in which this gave the impression that I looked more like a solider coming back from a war than some servant boy working in a castle.

The worse though was all over my body with bruise marks all over my body, and I when I meant all over, I meant that my body was in so many shades of purple that I could've resembled a paint colour chart. I was only thankful that these marks were all under my clothes as it would've been a horrendous sight should anyone have the misfortune of seeing them. No chance to find a girlfriend looking like _that_.

Alas, January would thankfully be a less eventful month and there really isn't anything to talk about here other than perhaps this one day just ten days after that beating, and one that had one of my fellow servants getting more than just 'January Blues'…

"It is your turn to collect the goods from the town," Kai informed me and Ivar during one cloudy day, his gaze though was mostly on me. "I want you Aiden to be the guide for Ivar while your at it."

"Any reason why Ivar's comin'?" I asked glancing over at my fellow colleague.

"I'm actually new around these parts," Ivar admitted. "Not really had the chance to explore much Arendelle that much since I got here."

Kai smiled at us. "As of a result, I believe that by letting him learn the area, plus for you two simply to know each other better would be a good way to build trust with each other."

I thought about this for a moment and in some ways, it made sense. My New Year's resolution had been to know the other servants better as since I started working here I really hadn't formed any close relations with any of the other members of royal staff other than Kristoff, though that it is debatable if Kristoff could be counted as a member of staff due to the strange title that Elsa granted him that most of us didn't believe in. All in all, getting to know another member of staff better seemed like a good idea and besides, I needed to get out of the castle at least once.

"Are you fine with this?" Kai asked us.

"Oh aye, no danger," I replied.

"Guess I'm stuck with you for the rest of the day," Ivar joked sarcastically which did make me laugh.

The castle overseer then brought out a scroll of paper from one of his inside jacket pockets and handed it over to us. "Very well you two. I want you to collect what's written on here, it should be a straight forward task and you might need to collect a horse and cart for the things you'll be needing to collect. I believe you Ivar have some skills with working with horses?"

Ivar's face lit up. "Yes, I do, sir. Once worked on a horse ranch where I came from previously, so I'll have no trouble handling a horse."

"Very good," Kai nodded. "That'll be that then. Have a good day gentleman."

With that said, we headed off towards the stables to collect a horse and cart for the day and for Ivar, he was looking forward to this.

At this point I think I should talk more about him as you will remember him when he was there at the time during that whole episode with the Countess though I hadn't really had the chance to know him better. Apart from being twenty-seven years old, He was a tall, handsome looking and strong figure with bright green eyes, straight blonde hair and a stubble beard he was growing too which gave him both a rugged yet smart look. He did though had a vain side to him and always liked to think of himself as something of a lady's man as whenever I had previously worked with him from time to time, he would always go on about some pretty girl he had his eye on and his hopeful but ultimately failed attempts to woo said girl.

Other than this to make up for that, he was an accomplished horse rider as he used to work at a stable in the Northern Isles from where he came from and had been hoping to work with the horses sooner or later, now he'd _finally_ get that chance. At the stables, we found a suitable horse and cart and after getting everything ready, we headed off into town with Ivar taking the reigns and looked truly in his element.

"Yer lookin' rather perky," I chuckled at Ivar's big grin as we went past the doors to the castle and onto the stone bridge.

"Course I am," Ivar replied. "Been waiting for this for a long time. Quite amazed though that big Amund allowed us in to take a horse being the stubborn git that he is."

"It was orders from Kai, even _he_ couldn't refuse that."

"Hmm, that's true. Still I wish I could get a job working in the stables."

His mood changed to one of regret and mainly that was to do with Amund himself. Amund is the official royal stable master for Arendelle castle and he was quite a large brute of a man. He had been here for many years way before Elsa and Anna had been born and to say he lacked people's skills would be an understatement as he made Kristoff's so-called antisocial nature looked rather friendly in comparison.

Speaking of which, he hadn't acted that well at first when Sven moved into the stables saying that no reindeer had a place here, but after a lot of ego clashing between Amund and Kristoff with Anna being the one to ultimately rule in favour of her partner, Amund reluctantly accepted and since then didn't bother Sven and focused his attention on the horses.

It was horses that he showed his true talent as he had a brilliant way of working with horses as he could break into a horse from turning it from a raw, untrained horse and into a highly trained and efficient horse. So much so that whenever he demonstrated to Queen Elsa how well trained the horse was, it was so efficient and well drilled to his calls that it was almost scary how good the horse was. Had to wonder if Elsa even considered making Amund's trained horses as part of the army with how highly trained they were.

However, as I looked at Ivar, he was looking put about over something. "Is it that Amund causin' ye grief?"

"You bet," Ivar sighed. "I know he is very protected of them, God knows how Kristoff got his reindeer to stay there, but surely he wouldn't mind an apprentice helping him? I've got the background to prove I'm worthy of it!"

"Everyone cannae deal with him," I pointed out. "He's that stubborn that he won't budge no matter how hard ye try. It's like he's in his own wee world there."

"And he's old too, I mean, what is he? Ninety or something?"

"Seventy-three, I think. But come on, good things come to those who wait and surely yer chance will come."

Ivar smiled briefly and soon the topic was dropped as I ended up guiding Ivar where to go while trying to give him a brief tour of Arendelle as we headed to our first stop, the harbour.

"Wee question, bud," I asked as slowed down near the docks. "How long ye been in Arendelle for?"

"Since last July," Ivar replied. "Think I joined when you did, never got much of a chance to explore Arendelle as I was looking for a job the first time I came here. Heard about the servant job and…here we are."

As soon as we stopped and climbed down off the cart, I replied. "I've been here since I was six, feel more Arendellian than Scottish to be perfectly honest, though I do miss home a wee bit."

We didn't say much on the matter as we headed down one of the piers in which we were to collect our first load of the day, a couple of barrels of Beveridge to fill our now dwindling supplies in the castle. It all went well with the dock master agreeing with the paperwork and helping us get the barrels up to our cart, though it was when started loading them onto it that Ivar noticed something on the cart that we hadn't noticed before we left.

"Who put that rug there?" Ivar pointing at a red and white striped sheet that looked like it was wrapped around something.

I shrugged my shoulders at him. "Don't know, but I thought we were supposed to keep things clean and whoever left that there will no doubt be getting' a tellin' off from Kai."

As I went over to move the sheet away, I was stunned to see that it was moving and that something or someone was covered by it. Quickly unravelling it, we were surprised to find within in was certain snowman fast asleep.

"Olaf?" I spluttered. The little snowman was curled up snoring and muttering something about summer in his sleep. "Olaf wake up laddie," I added and began gently shaking him to wake up.

"Huh? Wha…what's going on?" Olaf slurred as he slowly stirred awake. His face quickly lit up when he saw me. "Oh! How's it going Aiden and…wow, you look pretty bad."

I rolled my eyes at his observation, that sort of reaction people whenever they saw me with the injuries it had been something that I had gotten used to. "Never mind me, bud. What'd you doin' out here?"

Olaf was about to say something until it dawned on him on where he was. "Oh…um, this is awkward."

"Why were you fast asleep on that cart?" Ivar spoke up in which Olaf turned to look at him.

"I was out with Sven, went around town and…I can't remember after that. Oh, and hi, Ivar!" Olaf explained, though he seemed rather confused himself how he had gotten here in the first place. Had he been out drinking or something last night? Then again, did snowman ever get drunk? Guess that's just Arendelle logic I suppose.

I then shook my head in bemusement at Olaf's predicament. "Look laddie, doesn't matter why yer here, don't ye think Queen Elsa and Princess Anna might be worried for ye if yer out missin'?"

"They won't mind. If I'm with you guys I'll be fine," Olaf chuckled with his naïve optimism showing through. Me and Ivar gave each other blank stares as if trying to figure out what to do with him.

"Look…ye can come wi' us," I decided. "Just follow what me and Ivar do, ok?"

The little snowman beamed. "Thanks guys! Can't wait for a road trip!"

Me and Ivar rolled our eyes as we stacked up the barrels onto the back of the cart. As soon as we were done, he climbed back on and headed over to our next stop, the chocolatier. No prizes if you already knew who was wanting it. That all being said it was still amazing of the amount of chocolate that the sisters, especially Anna, _loved_ the stuff and the sweet smell that came off it after we loaded it onto the cart didn't help our urges wanting to try and eat them for ourselves.

We did several stops throughout the day which all went well with no real problems, other than Olaf perhaps wanting to stay around and ask questions in which involved me and Ivar to drag him away. Olaf seemed to get around town and everyone knew him, then again how could you not know of a living snowman in the area?

Eventually we finally came to our penultimate stop, the butchers store. Interesting fact to note that this certain butcher store had recently been awarded the official meat suppler for the Arendelle Royal family and to prove this, they even had the royal emblem stamped onto all their products to show off with pride.

As we neared it, Ivar's grin widened suddenly.

"Ye seem happy about somethin'?" I noted and Ivar winked at me.

"Well of course, there is something I haven't told you about with my luck with the ladies of late."

"What? Some lassie gave ye the elbow again?"

"Shut up, jock!" Ivar chuckled giving me a playful shove. "In fact, quite the opposite."

"Wait…ye don't mean…"

Ivar gave a sly nod and put on a smug grin.

Olaf, who was sitting behind us, gasped. "Who is it?!"

"Only managed to get lucky with Miss Helga Antonisen."

Helga. Something about that name though seemed familiar as I thought about it. "Wait a minute. That name rings a bell, I've heard it from somewhere but where…?"

As we neared the butchers' store, I noticed a hanging sign outside that read 'Antonisen & Sons'. My eyes widened in slow realisation and I glanced back and forward between the sign and Ivar's grinning face. "N…No way. How did ye?"

"Surprised? Managed to pull his daughter! How about that?"

Our snowman friend looked delighted for Ivar while I was left perplexed at this unexpected news. "Hang on, how long have ye been goin' out with her?" I asked.

"The last three months if I can remember," Ivar explained. "I tell you, she is truly a rare find in Arendelle and with that wonderful personality and looks, I can't tell you how lucky I am to have her."

 _God, that lassie must be desperate if she's going with_ him _._

"How'd you meet?" Olaf inquired.

"By chance actually," Ivar replied sheepishly as we pulled up outside the butchers. "I was returning meat that we discovered was actually contaminated and I had to return it here and there to collect it at the desk was none other than Helga herself."

I nodded as I began to develop a mental picture of how it seemed to play out. "Let me guess next, ye got chattin' and one thing led tae another and now ya got a girlfriend on the side?"

"How else would it have gone?" Ivar chuckled and he climbed down from the cart, his expression suddenly changing to one of concern. "However, I haven't seen her in the last few weeks. Like she's trying to avoid me…"

Me and Olaf glanced at each other hearing this part and it was quite strange to see Ivar's mood suddenly change like that. I then saw through the open window of the store a large black bearded man at the counter was cutting up a large chunk of meat. It became clear that this was Mr Lars Antonisen and with those large tattoo muscles and that bloody stained white apron, he looked like someone I didn't want to mess with.

"Damn, look at her Dad," Ivar gasped.

"You've not met him before?" I replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I was supposed to before she suddenly started avoiding me…"

Olaf's eyes were wide as he watched Lars cutting the lamb leg and muttered, "he could give Marshmallow a run for his money…"

Not listening to Olaf, I was focused on Ivar. "Hang on, I thought it was common practice tae eventually meet the parents soon after ya gone out for a few weeks, not _months_."

The blonde man mealy nodded and drew in a shaky sigh. "… _Yeah_. I'll admit not what I had in mind but seeing as he's here and that we've got a supply to collect, I'll kill two birds with one stone!"

"Do ye want us—?"

"No, no, no I'll handle this. You just watch how you greet your girl. It'll all go to plan!"

With that said, he headed into the butcher's store with a swagger in his step that he must've thought looked cool, though to everyone else who could see it, he had all the charm of an ashtray. Such a show off and I had to wonder how he got a job as a servant, let alone pulled some girl.

Me and Olaf sat on the cart and watched through the large window as Ivar headed towards the counter. Though we couldn't hear anything, we can assume that he was asking for the supplies that we were collecting as Lars nodded and headed round to the back of the store to get whatever we were looking for. As much as the butcher looked fearsome, there was something in the way he looked that seemed like something was troubling him, though I didn't know if I was reading into it too deeply. When he left, Ivar turned back at us and gave us a confident thumbs up in which we half-heartedly gave back.

"Why do you think she doesn't want to see him again?" Olaf asked me.

I simply shrugged my shoulders. "Who knows, the fact she's never brought Ivar and her Dad together is slightly suspect, hell, I'm not sure she's aware he's here."

We were silent again as we looked back at Ivar at the counter looking rather confident as if everything was going well. Just then Lars returned carrying a large wrapped bundle on what was clearly meat and dumped it on the counter, but rather then say his thanks and take the bundle away with him, Ivar rested his arm on the counter and began chatting to Lars again.

Once again, I had no idea what was being said, but whatever Ivar said to Lars suddenly saw the large butcher's face turning red faster than I thought was humanly possible. Then with his expression turning into a one of absolute hatred, he grabbed Ivar by his collar and dragged him over the counter and pinned him against the wall.

Lars' voice boomed out as me and Olaf could just make out him hearing for two individuals called 'Henrik' and 'Alex' to come down and Lars then began punching Ivar in the stomach. At this point I should've gone running in and help my fellow servant to get him out of there, but I was rendered stock-still at what I was seeing and at that moment, two younger but nonetheless strong looking men came in through the back and once Lars explained what was going on, it became utter chaos in there as they began to brutally beat up Ivar.

I was so stunned at what was going on that my body just couldn't respond to anything up until Olaf spoke up. "Aiden, I sort of don't think it's going to plan…"

That was all I needed for me to snap out of my trance and do something and came up with a rescue plan on the spot. "Olaf, you go in and get the bundle on the counter while I'll get Ivar out of there not killed…hopefully."

We rushed in and inside that butcher's shop had descended into a shouting match and I hurried over to try and break up the fight.

"You bastard! I'm going to kill for what've you done to my daughter!"

"You're going to pay for this!"

"Dad, where's that's butcher's knife?"

 _Shit, must get him out of here!_

I wedged between Ivar and the angry men and I could see trying to reason with them was never going to work and the best I could do was get him out as quickly as I could. The men were confused as to what I was doing here but nonetheless didn't look happy that I was with him and at that point I feared that I was about to suffer yet another battering had it not been the sound of a young woman's voice which snapped the men out of their rage.

"Ivar? Dad, what the hell are you doing?!" Came the woman's voice and looking over my shoulder at the doorway leading into the backroom was a lady in her early twenties with long, straight brown hair, amber eyes and had a surprisingly bulky build for a woman though not as great as her Dad and the two men who I quickly realised were in fact Lars' sons.

Nonetheless, this was the so-called Helga that Ivar had been seeing and that now at this moment was looking to end this doomed relationship.

"H-Helga?" Ivar stuttered, though he didn't have the chance to question as Lars butted in.

"Is this bastard who caused it?!" Lars roared at his daughter and thankfully in his fit of rage let go of Ivar and I used the chance to sneak Ivar out to safety.

"Dad, it was an accident!" Helga explained desperately. "He wouldn't mean it, honestly!"

"He's ruined you!" Yelled one of the sons. "Who gives a _damn_ what he thinks!" and the whole thing descended into a shouting match yet again with the family as the whole thing seemed threatened to boil over again and turn the store upside down.

It was a relief that while they were distracted, I made a 'quick' getaway with my arm around a battered Ivar and lead him back to the cart. As I helped him up I then remembered the supplies we had to collect and how that I didn't want to go back in there in case I was to be the unwanted target for them, though much to my relief I saw that Olaf had followed my orders and had quickly stacked them on the cart ready for us to get away.

With a flick of the reigns from Ivar, he headed away with me and Olaf were left speechless and Ivar looking shamefaced after that moment of madness. Neither of us spoke and to add more to scene, Ivar had come away from that butcher's store with a black, a blooded nose and a bust lip on his appearance alone, no idea how he was on the rest of his body. The fact that with my own injuries matching his own recently acquired ones, we must've looked like pair who had returned from a warzone.

The long and uncomfortable silence was finally broken by Ivar who gave us a weak glance or his eyes. "Well…um, I better tell you what happened…"

"Ye bloody will do just that," I growled darkly. "Seriously, what hell happened in there?"

Ivar let out a long drawn out sigh. "I did find out why she didn't want to see and why her Dad seems to hate my guts."

"What'd ye do this time?"

"Well…just before we stop seeing each other we…well, one night we had a bit too much to drink and…"

"Aye…?"

"W-we went back to the servant quarters at the castle and—"

"Hold on a minute!" I interrupted. "Ye brought a lassie into the servants' quarters and no one saw ye?!"

"It was late at night and everyone else was asleep," Ivar replied sheepishly. "Anyway, we went to my room and, well, if memory serves me well, it got rather…you know…"

I felt the ground below me starting to open as thoughts began to realise where Ivar was going with this. "Please…don't tell me, actually, I hope not…"

"Turns out she's nearly two months pregnant! And I'm the God damn _Dad_!"

I sank back in my seat and pinched the bridge of my nose, groaning in shock. "Oh, Ivar. Ye've _really_ done it now this time. Nice job, laddie."

"So…what now?" Olaf added, his eyes widened at the news and I got the feeling from him that he didn't know if to be shocked, angry or happy at this.

Ivar looked back at the snowman. "Don't know, man. I really don't…"

"I think I know one thing for certain," I said suddenly. "That is that one, Ivar here will have to explain to our queen that he has likely damaged relations with one of our royal suppliers over knockin' up Mr. Antonisen's daughter. Good luck for Elsa not freezing ye for that, Ivar. Two, he'll be heading to the doctor to try and fix up those wounds and finally we now face the sad prospect of some wee kid growin' up without a Dad."

That last thought made me angry as that triggered memories of my cheating mother and how that had led me and Dad out to Arendelle. I will admit of being something a family minded person and the thought of what this poor unborn kid having a future without a father figure in its life felt horrible.

Ivar said nothing and looked away from us shamefaced. He knew that this was his fault and that there no way out of this for him, though it would be surprising in which Olaf came up with a suggestion in that moment.

"Marry her," Olaf uttered.

Me and Ivar turned around to look at him with astounded looks. "Wait, what?" Ivar stammered.

"Marry her," Olaf repeated, this time his normal cheery expression was replaced with a very rare serious look that seemed alien for someone like Olaf of all (snow) people. "I don't know much about family, but isn't it right to be married before a kid is born?"

Ivar seemed visibly confused at what to reply with. "But I…well, you're right about it being right to be married before a kid is born. But…"

"But what?" Olaf inquired, raising an eyebrow. I didn't know to laugh or be impressed that Ivar was being put in his place by a snowman, how many could say that has happened? The fact that someone like Olaf was calling Ivar out for his actions really did show how much he had screwed up badly here.

"I've only known her for a few months."

"So? It's more than a day, that's better than what Anna had with Hans."

"… _True_ , but—"

"No buts, do you love her?"

"…I…well, yeah…I-I do love her. I mean, I've seen her much more than with any girl before."

I rolled my eyes at that statement.

 _At least that is better than some of the previous girls he's tried to court, even though he messed up here._

Olaf then rubbed Ivar's shoulder and that familiar happy look of Olaf's returned. "Then go for it, some people do need someone in their lives…Ok you do have Lars, his sons, Elsa, marriage and your job to worry about…but apart from that you should be fine!"

Ivar gave an uncomfortable look at Olaf who didn't quite know how to respond to that statement. "Err…ok, no pressure then."

"More to the point," I added. "I think Ivar now has to tell Elsa first of this… _mishap_. But hopefully she'll be supportive."

"If she's not?" Ivar asked with concern in his voice.

"Umm, just keep the faith I guess," I muttered.

"Oh, thanks a bunch," Ivar drawled sarcastically as he began trying to think what he was going to do next. I will say though that yes, Ivar would have to reluctantly face the music in meeting with Lars and Helga again as well as confessing to Queen Elsa about what he had done. How would he get on? Well, that is a story for another day, though Olaf would ask as a question that made me and Ivar groan in despair…

"Actually guys, where do babies come from?"

* * *

 **Oh, Olaf. Anyone I know Olaf might seem OOC here, but I thought it would be more interesting having someone like Olaf put forward a good point and seeing how in the film he did a similar thing in helping Anna finding about 'true love', it isn't that far fetched. Anyway, next chapter will be Kristoff's birthday and this looks to be something of a...interesting chapter.**

 **So not a good ending for Ivar, but at least Aiden didn't get beaten up here I guess. Anyway until then, catch you next time!**


	10. In Which Anna Gets

**Updated once again and I apologised for the long delay due to work and bad writers block. I will say I'm sort stunned at how the story is going as I had never expected it to become this long and we are only just over the half point. I've also had a thought that with Frozen 2 just around the corner, I'm a bit concerned that I might have to change things in my original plan for the story so that it doesn't deviate that much, though if you'd like to see what I have planned reagardless what happens then feel free to tell me otherwise.**

 **It is the longest chapter yet and I think my problem is that I explain too much and that might bore readers so I'll try and improve on that. Also some of the characters might be a tad OOC so apologises for that, anyway without further ado, let's begin...**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **In Which Anna Gets...**

While I mentioned that I didn't care much for January, I always thought February was a better time as it was here the last of winter would vanish and that life seemed to start again. If you remember what happened in the previous month in which one of our servants, Ivar, accidently got the daughter of our official meat suppler pregnant, it had been the news that everyone in the castle seemed to talk about, no less thanks to Olaf who was not only there along with me, but who had spread the word round the castle about what had happened.

I did get asked too about what exactly happened, but they mostly went for Ivar about it and the best thing I could do was keep my head down and looking back on it, it all did seem to be a bit of a farce with how things had ended up like this. Now I can only imagine you'd be asking is after what Ivar did of what happened. Was he fired by Elsa or banished?

To our amazement when Elsa had to confront Ivar and make him confess the whole story, he would still be able to work as a servant, though he was given a huge warning not for this to happen again.

I wasn't there when they came face to face, but judging by the sheepish look on Ivar's face and his face being as a white as Olaf when he came back from that meeting, Elsa had no doubt given him a damn good chewing out. What I would've given to witness it…

I'm please to say it does have a happier ending for Ivar as after meeting with our Queen, Ivar had to head round to meet Helga and her family when not only it didn't break out into another fight, but a truce was sorted in which Lars would reluctantly agree for Ivar to marry Helga in order for the child to have a father in it's life.

The Wedding would take place later in the month, but this little tale isn't really about that but instead another birthday to celebrate. Kristoff's birthday. Though I'll say it didn't have anything shocking like with my own birthday, in typical Arendelle fashion in which we had started getting used to, it wouldn't exactly be a dull affair…

That day on the 15th February started like any other day with me getting up early and bringing up breakfast for Princess Anna. This day however was Kristoff's birthday and it was our ginger princess that had plans made for Kristoff in which I was to keep quiet about should I encounter our ice harvester friend, the only thing I had for Kristoff was a card. As I arrived outside Anna's door, I knocked and waited for a response in which I heard nothing.

"Princess Anna?" I called. "Are you awake, yer highness?"

Nothing. Granted Anna was never an early riser and wouldn't get up until after ten in the morning (the time was currently just after eight at that moment) so I wasn't that worried as I waited to hear from her. I waited for a while and yet I heard nothing, and I placed the tray down on the ground and knocked again.

"Anna, are ye ok? It's me, Aiden." I asked again but there was nothing. Cautiously, I slowly opened the door and peered into the room no knowing what to expect and hoped that nothing bad had happened to the crown princess.

I first glanced over to the bed and saw that she wasn't there before then looking around the room thinking that Anna had to be somewhere yet there was no sign of any princess. I knew I shouldn't jump to conclusions at Anna's whereabouts, but I did have this lingering doubt in my mind that something had happened to her and that if Elsa found out, we all might be heading for another winter…

"God almighty," I muttered to myself. "Anna where the hell are…of _course_!"

I slapped my forehead foolishly, how didn't I think of that before? Kristoff's room! Grabbing the tray of the floor, I made the short walk down the corridor towards Kristoff's room and with the door not quite closed.

Before I say anything else, I might have to ask the question that how Kristoff, who was technically a member of royal staff like me, got his own room within the royal wing of the castle while everyone else like me slept in the servant's quarters? Obvious answer is of course is his relationship with Anna who insisted on sleeping with her, though Elsa being the protective older sister that she was wasn't going to let Kristoff try and bed her little sister so soon and instead made a compromise of giving him his own room.

Giving the number of empty bedrooms in the castle, fair to say that Kristoff was spoiled for choice though some of us servants did think that it all gave Kristoff unfair perks to the rest of us especially as some debated over his questionable title that Elsa had granted him. In the end we gave up asking and realised that for what he had done in playing his part in helping Arendelle and the sisters, he did deserve it.

Back to the story however, as soon as I made it outside Kristoff's door and placed the breakfast tray on the floor and knocked to announce my greeting. "Kristoff are ye—Oh!"

I hadn't noticed that the door had been not fully closed properly and when I gave a knock, the door instead opened up into a dimly lit room to which I then focused towards the bed in where I found Kristoff and Anna still sleeping…though not how I had been hoping to see them as.

I wished I had never laid eyes on the scene before me. There fast asleep and with looks of utter bliss on their faces, a fully naked Kristoff was spooning an equally naked Anna and neither had the bed covers on in which I saw, for better or for worse, every unclothed detail in the flesh. Knowing how wrong this was, I quickly exited from the room and nearly stumbled over the breakfast tray I'd left outside before closing the door properly though it did let off a slight slam as it shut. Oddly enough when it did slam, it didn't awake Anna and Kristoff as you'd might expect, they must've been _that_ tried...

I stood there for goodness knows how long as I tried to come to turns what I had just gotten myself into, suppose I had found Anna at least, but still...

Who was to blame? Them for not taking care of themselves and not leaving the door closed properly for random individuals to walk in? Or was it me for doing the latter there? I did feel bad for what I did for seeing Anna, aka one of my bosses, nude just there and I could only pray and hope that Elsa wasn't going to freeze me for that, though I did wonder what she'd have to say to Kristoff about this?

Looking up at the door again, this time fully closed, I shuffled forward and knocked. "Princess Anna?"

The sound of groaning could be heard from inside the room as it sounded like they slowly starting to awake. "Yeah…?" Anna slurred. "Is that you…Aiden?"

"Aye, just me with breakfast," I answered. "Thought ye might be here."

"Just give us a second," Kristoff added, and shuffling sounds could be heard in which I could only imagine that they were trying to make themselves look more presentable. So thus, I waited to be called in. "Alright, come in."

Opening the door before bending down to get the breakfast tray I headed into the bedroom in which this time Anna had thrown on her nightgown that had been previously lying on the floor while Kristoff had found himself a set of boxers and a shirt. The funniest thing that always made me laugh whenever I saw Anna in the morning was that her hair was always in a mess that resembled more like a lion's mane than that of a princess. Poor girl just couldn't get that hair sorted.

"I know what you're laughing at," Anna drawled as she knew very well what had tickled me.

"Sorry yer highness," I apologised while trying to hold back the giggles, "it's just that it never gets old."

"It is rather funny I'll admit," Kristoff added who playfully played around with his girlfriend's messy hair much to Anna's annoyance.

" _Kristoff_ ," Anna scowled before eying the breakfast tray I placed down on her lap. "Thank you, Aiden. How'd you know I was here?"

I shrugged. "Lucky guess I suppose. I did try knocking on yer door but found out ye weren't there, so I then thought ye might be here and…well, yeah."

"What about me?" Kristoff asked.

"Huh?"

"What about my breakfast?"

"Sorry bud, I was only serving princess Anna ye know."

"So, nothing for me then?" Kristoff asked with a playful tone in his voice as he rolled his eyes.

"Dinnae think that way, lad," I replied. "It maybe yer birthday but since Anna here is a princess and is one of my bosses, she gets the first dibs of the day…nae disrespect." I then pulled out the card from my back pocket and presented it to him. "But I do have this though, happy birthday Kristoff."

The ice harvester smiled as he opened the card and began reading it with Anna looking on, then he had cross expression as he looked up at me and I could only grin at what I could imagine he reacted to. "Hey!"

"What's wrong?" Anna asked as she swallowed down a mouthful of pancakes.

"Look what he's written here!" Kristoff replied as he pointed to something I had written on the bottom of the card. "It says 'To Kristoff, happy birthday, from Aiden. And there is a P.S. here…remember to take a wash today."

At this point I doubled over laughing and even Anna found the funny side of it. "I don't smell that bad!" Kristoff protested.

"Says you, I don't know how Anna copes with ye!" I laughed before I remembered something. "Actually just to change the subject, where were ye two last night? Ye disappeared fer a few hours."

"It was valentines' day yesterday, remember?" Anna replied and held Kristoff's hand in that moment.

"Ahh…forgot about that," I muttered. It hadn't occurred to me that this valentine's day would've been the first for either Anna or Kristoff to experience as a couple. "Enjoy yerselfs then?"

"Just the two of us," Kristoff reflected happily. "Up in the mountains overlooking the fjord, then we came back here to my room and, well…"

The couple then went red as it didn't lead to any prizes as to imagining what a night they must've had. "So yer up for a second go then?" I joked, giving them a sly wink, in which made Kristoff look embarrassed.

Anna though looked over at Kristoff with a certain look and began make little circles on his chest. "Oh, I plan too, it was a _rather_ good night…"

 _Oh, Christ get a room you two…wait, hang on…_

Getting the hint that it was possibly wise to get out of there and how awkward I felt, I slowly made my way out off the room. "Okay, I'm just gonna go now and get yer breakfast, Kristoff…"

"Remember to lock the door on the way out." Anna called out in which the two giggled.

"A-aye yer highness," I muttered and moved quickly out of there. "The things I do in this job…"

Then the irony of their request of locking the door struck me from what had happened earlier. If they only knew…

While Kristoff wanted nothing more than a quiet birthday with no thrills attached, in which he did get something like that in which his birthday would take place in the castle. However there's always a little something added to it in which later on in the afternoon, both me and Kristoff got a surprise in which he found out who was invited thanks to Anna.

"She's invited who now?" I asked Kristoff as we helped get Sven cleaned.

"They're called Alex, Eric and Brian," Kristoff answered. "They're fellow ice harvesters and I suppose you could say colleagues."

"Oh aye? How'd Anna find out about them?"

"She didn't, they just…showed up, while me and Anna were out on a date all unannounced."

There was something in the way Kristoff spoke about them that made him seem uneasy about them. "Did…somethin' happen with them? Are they yer friends?"

"Did I say _friends_? Just colleagues," Kristoff corrected. "And yes, as you might know, I didn't spend much time with anyone other than Sven, let alone other ice harvesters. I barely even saw these guys eye to eye most of the time."

"So why are they wantin' to act all pally with ye then?" I inquired, bemused by all this.

Kristoff sighed. "Simple really, something to do with this new life style living in a castle and dating a princess. Suddenly everyone wants to be your friend."

The poor guy looked sad just then and in that moment it all clicked. In some ways I did relate to him in that moment as when I started no one other than a few seemed to care about me until they found out about some moments I had done such as dealing with a Countess and the Dahl brothers, it was an irritating thought for anyone.

Sven seemed all too aware of how Kristoff was feeling and gave him a friendly nuzzle while I tried to think of something to help the guy out. "Sorry to hear all that, lad. On the bright side, I think Elsa won't be too happy with these numpties hangin' about the place and if they do somethin' stupid, well, I'm sure they'll be kicked out before ye can say 'reindeers are better than people'."

Thankfully this did make Kristoff smile. "Thanks, Aiden."

"Don't worry about it," I assured him. "It's your birthday after all and many of us servants will be keepin' an eye out, hopefully it'll come to nothin' in the end."

I may have been hopeful that things would be ok, but if past experiences had told me nothing seems to be normal when you're in the sphere of influence of the Arendelle Royal Family as I thought about who this Alex, Eric and Brian was after I left the stables and went on to do other tasks.

The day itself mostly went in a blur and Kristoff received many birthday greetings and well wishes from the other servants, though much to his annoyance, he was always asked many worried questions about the visiting ice harvesters and if they might potentially turn the castle upside down. That was a silly suggestion to even think that but that was just an example of how some were nervous about them and how Anna had thought this was a good idea.

It wouldn't be until dusk in in which I would get my first glimpse of the trio when Kai called me away to do the usual 'meet and greet' by the gates. I had started doing a bit more of this recently and I had gotten the hang of it and even though I was about to deal with a bunch of guys who had nearly all day left me edgy about how to greet them, I had to act responsible and be civil with them even if they likely didn't want to reciprocate.

I waited for a while until I caught sight of three large bulky men, slightly bigger than Kristoff, walking through the gates and into the courtyard and looking somewhat out of place with their scabby looking clothes that I assumed was their casual gear. I also noticed that one was carrying a lute and that another with thick black hair and an untidy beard was carrying a rug stack and I did feel tempted ask them what was inside that bag, but I had to follow the routine as always.

"Greetings gentlemen, thank ye for comin'," I welcomed them.

"Is Kristoff 'ere?" Asked the one carrying the lute, a big red headed man who had blazing green eyes and, perhaps somewhat worryingly, had a major scar that went down the right side of his face.

"Err…aye, h-he's here," I stuttered, wasn't expecting them to be asking questions so soon. "Follow me, I'll lead ye there."

The three men muttered in agreement and I lead them inside the castle. Despite me keeping quiet and focusing on my job, the three ice harvesters were happily chatting among themselves as they took in the surroundings of the castle. They acted more like excited kids in a museum than big, burly mountain men and it was very likely the first time either of them had been inside a castle before, let alone being invited by a princess.

We were making our way up the stairs when suddenly the third man of the trio, a slightly balding man with blue eyes, called me out. "You're not from around here, aren't you?"

I turned to look at them with them all staring at me and began the usual backstory I always did whenever the chat went into about my past. "Aye that's right, I'm from Scotland originally before movin' out here since I was very young."

The redheaded man stroked his chin in thought. "Scotland? Is that a place in England?"

 _Oh God, not this crap again…_

"Naw, it's just north of England, people do make that mistake around here, a lot…" I corrected, feeling annoyed at having to say this again. "Funny you should that though as Kristoff did think that too. Actually…I don't think I know yer names."

"Heh, you're right," the redhead chuckled. "My name is Brian."

"I'm Alex," the raven headed one added.

"And I'm Eric," the balding one concluded."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "Well then, guess that breaks the ice, no pun intended for our Queen."

We carried walking not saying anything else and I did start to think that maybe the fears that many had over these ice harvesters might've been over exaggerated by everyone in the castle and maybe things would be alright. Kristoff's birthday was taking place in the main dining room, one that you might remember in which I had the encounter with the Countess so find it was not that hard, though as we headed down the corridor I noticed that Alex who was carrying the ruck sack was looking into it making sure whatever was in was still there.

"Wee question, what's in the bag?" I inquired, eying the sack curiously.

"Ahh, that's Krissy-boy's gift," Alex grinned. "Let's just say it'll be a big surprise for 'em!"

 _Krissy-boy?_ No wonder Kristoff seemed to dislike these guys if they were calling him that stupid nickname. They might've been friendly and likely meant well, but there was that lingering doubt about them in which I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Anyway, here we are, lads," I announced to the trio as ended outside the door that lead into the main dining room. "Just let me announce yer arrival then ye can come in, ok?"

They nodded and I headed in in which Kristoff was standing next the birthday cake that situated at the end of the table with Elsa, Anna, Olaf and for _some_ reason even Sven was up here too (don't ask how they managed to convince Elsa to bring him inside the castle). The gang were chatting about something and I noticed that Ivar and Gerda were there too setting out the cutlery for the meal tonight.

At this point I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention. "Yer highnesses, the err… _guests_ of honour are here."

Almost on cue Brian, Alex and Eric poured into the room and their faces lit up as they saw their fellow ice harvester. "Krissy-boy!" They greeted happily together and went up to the birthday boy and began joshing with him and not only did I see that they looked slightly bigger than Kristoff and older by a few years, poor Kristoff looked uncomfortable with them around.

Kristoff wasn't alone in thinking that as I could see Elsa was keeping her distance with a look of suspicion on her face while Sven seemed to have a similar look of misgiving as having likely seen these guys before knew very well what they were like. Olaf and Anna were different as Olaf being the ever so happy character was willing to make friends with anyone while Anna was happy to see that they had turned up though it did get rather disturbing when Anna introduced herself to the trio, they looked rather _excited_ to say the least...

"Aren't you a fine girl!" Alex complimented.

"You are much prettier than my wife," Brian added.

"Your highness, I'm sure you can do better than _him_ ," Eric flirted blatantly while glancing over to Kristoff.

Yes, these three bullish ice men were shamelessly flirting with the crown princess right in front of Elsa and Kristoff who both looked appalled at this while Anna now looked bewildered as she didn't quite know if to feel flattered or that she had made a mistake of inviting them here. Kristoff pulled his girlfriend away from the trio and Elsa looked over towards me, Gerda and Ivar.

"Please bring forth the starters…quickly," Elsa ordered us with a muted whisper, and we muttered in acceptation before making our way out of the room. Once out of there, my fellow two servants looked at me with looks of bemusement.

"Where'd you get these guys from?" Ivar asked in amazement.

"Don't ask," I replied dryly. "Princess Anna invited them, and we just have to follow through."

Gerda was thinking over the situation. "I think we can all agree that as long as nothing bad happens to anyone then I think the night should be ok."

We muttered in agreement and headed towards the kitchens to collect the food for the night ahead. How very naïve our hopes would later turn out…

Apart from their loud and sometimes obnoxious behaviour, nothing bad happened throughout the time the meals were served though it did feel like a matter of time no longer how much you prayed for that something was about to happen. As a result, it would happen straight after they had finished desserts in which Brian, Alex and Eric thought that this was the moment to bring out the surprise gift that they had in the ruck sack.

"Right then Kristoff," Brian announced as he pulled up the sack that was lying under the table. "I think it is only fair that we present to you our gift."

Kristoff eyed the package suspiciously and in that moment when I was supposed to leave with the empty plates, I couldn't help but pause as I too was curious to know what was in it. Kristoff pulled the object out and to surprise a few in that room, it was none other than a small, wooden beer barrel.

"Uh…thanks?" Kristoff muttered in confusion.

"It's a good one you got," Alex noted. "That's called 'Thor's Liquor'. Damn hard to find that sort of make round here. You're a lucky guy, Krissy-boy."

"Thor's Liquor'?" Elsa suddenly spoke up. "Isn't that a very strong beverage?"

"That's right," Kristoff replied. "Tried it once and it nearly killed me then. Really strong stuff it is and something that all ice harvesters have used to get through work. I don't think I should—"

"Come on, Kristoff!" Eric egged on. "Prove yourself a man for your girl by taking it!"

The other two urged Kristoff and Anna looked over to her boyfriend with concern while Olaf seemed more curious than troubled. "Kristoff, what is _Thor's Liquor_?"

Before Kristoff could say anything, Kai came rushing into the room, nearly knocking me over, with his eyes fixed on Elsa. "Queen Elsa!"

"What is it, Kai?" Elsa inquired and Kai walked over to her and whispered something to her in which from I was standing I couldn't quite hear. After Kai explained what it was, Elsa's face turned to one of annoyance. " _Now_? Couldn't this wait until later?"

"I'm afraid not your highness," Kai sighed. "They would recommend if you were to make an appearance and sort this out as soon as possible."

We all stared as Elsa who thought about it for a good while until then she let out a defeated sigh and stood up from her seat. "Sorry about this, I have matters to deal with. Hopefully I shouldn't be too long."

Those around the table nodded or murmured in acceptance and Elsa followed Kai out of the room and it was here I took my cue of getting out of there and heading down to the kitchens. As I was leaving though, I heard Anna asked on certain question to the ice harvesters. "What is it like to drink…?"

For the next half hour I kept myself busy by helping in putting away many plates that had been cleaned into the cupboards they had been in and after that was done, there wasn't really anything that needed to be done so I headed down towards the servant's quarters, I was sure Kristoff's birthday would pass without incident but I did think it wouldn't hurt to check on the gang to make sure everyone was alright.

As I headed up there and passing by the restroom, Kristoff emerged. "How do lad, how's things?" I asked.

Kristoff gave me dubious look. "I had to go to men's room, plus I had to get out of there as they are really getting on my nerves now."

"Let me guess, ye want those bozos out of there?" I suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Expecting anything else?"

"Not really, from what ye told me earlier and my first impressions of seein' them in the flesh, I can agree with ye that they're really overstayin' their welcome."

I decided to accommodate Kristoff back to the dining room and had the idea that I could be his back up if things were to turn sour for whatever the reason. "Annoyin' that Elsa couldn't help us out here," I muttered.

"Yeah, had to be at the worse time," Kristoff sighed.

"As my old Dad would say, Sod's law."

We didn't say anything until we could hear laughter, the lute being played and the clapping of hands to a beat, clearly it seems everyone was enjoying themselves. "Wow, yer lass certainly knows how to put on a party," I chuckled.

"Or it could be Olaf," Kristoff noted with a wary expression. Then in that moment a certain snowman appeared rushing into the corridor in front of us. "…Speak of the devil."

"Guys! Been looking for you all over the place!" Olaf said.

"What is it?" Kristoff asked.

Olaf rubbed the side of his head and his mood seem to change. "Now, I don't want you to get worried but…"

"What? What's going on?" Kristoff interrupted as he got on one knee to match Olaf's height.

"You remember that stuff your buddies got you?"

"They aren't my _buddies_ , but what about it?"

The little snowman was silent as he didn't know what to say in that moment and a thought then dawned on me. "Where's Anna?" I asked Olaf.

Olaf begin twiddling his stick thumbs not knowing what to say and he looked like a child who had stolen a piece of chocolate and was struggling to confess for his actions. "…Yeah about Anna she's—"

"Is she ok?" Kristoff interrupted, his eyes widening as fear seemed to grip him but Olaf carried on speaking.

"She had that stuff Thor's li—no, Thor's ven—no, no that's not it, what's it called again?"

As he was trying to work out what that certain drink was called, me and Kristoff looked at each other as it suddenly became clear of what Anna was doing and without a further word, we bolted towards the dining room with Olaf following behind us. When we ran into the room, we gasped at what we were seeing.

There dancing on top of the table with the three ice harvesters cheering and clapping along to some improvised beat on the lute played by, was Anna who not only looked as to be having the time of her life but was quite clearly drunk. Actually, scratch that. _Plastered_.

In the corner of the room, Sven sat there looking out of place and when he saw us, he gave us a 'I-didn't-do-it' expression and we stood not knowing what to do in this situation as we stood stock-still at the sight of a drunken princess dancing in front of some bullish men.

"I've never really seen her this…happy," Olaf muttered quietly to us.

 _Oh, Olaf…_

Brian, who was playing the lute during this, caught sight of us standing in the room and grinned at us. "You've really got a fine girl there, Krissy-boy! Wouldn't mind if could do this—"

"What the hell did you do with her?!" Kristoff snapped, his fists tightening in growing rage, and I stepped away from him just in case he suddenly turned the place into a brawl.

"We didn't do anything to her," Brian protested. "She asked to try out the stuff for herself and…well, just look at her."

This was bad. If Elsa was to suddenly walk through that door and see what had happened to her little sister, I dreaded to think, then again with Olaf here and his big mouth, she as likely going to find out one way or the other. "H-how much did she have?" I spoke up trying whatever I could to defuse a potential fight.

Brian stopped strumming and with it Eric and Alex both stopped clapping along as if the three ice harvesters realised what trouble they might be in. The intoxicated Anna also stopped her dancing and in her current state didn't notice me and Kristoff had returned, if anything she looked midly annoyed that the music had stopped. Silence finally fell upon the room.

"How much did she have?" Kristoff repeated angrily.

The three men then looked at each other with tension with neither not knowing who to say first in which after a few murmurs with each other, they confessed. "S…six pints…"

"SIX!?" Kristoff spluttered.

"All in under half an hour?! Sweet Jesus!" I coughed in disbelief. We were in for it now if Elsa found out.

Bizarrely though, Alex tried to wave these concerns off. "Come on guys, one thing you have to admit that she can hold her drink better than you, Kristoff."

The look of incredulity on Kristoff's face really said it all as he was rendered speechless by this remark, even Olaf for once was silent which knowing him really said a lot. Before the birthday boy could react to that saying, I decided to step in and get Anna down from the table.

"Come on yer highness, get down from there! Yer makin' a fool of yerself!" I ordered her though I held my arms out as due to the swaying she was doing on top of the table that she might suddenly fall off at any moment.

The redhead princess stared at me with her eyes struggling to keep opening and even from where I was standing, I could smell the drink off her and I hadn't even stated about how drunk she was looking.

"Andy! No, Aiden, wait that's not right, hang on w-what's your name…? Oh yeah, _Jock_!" Anna slurred while the three visiting ice harvesters seemed amused by the scene while Kristoff buried his face in his hands in either dismay or embarrassment.

"Anna, get down now!" I repeated. "If ye don't come down I'll drag ye down!"

"It's w…wonderful stuff…oh, I don't feel so good," Anna garbled, her hand on her forehead from what I could assume was a growing headache.

"That's why yer goin' to bed, come on."

"But _Dad_ …I just started!"

"I…I'm not yer old man."

"But this stuff's amazing!"

I groaned and facepalmed. This was like arguing with a child, well, Anna was pretty much a child at times, but this was really taking the biscuit. "Anna _please_ , get down! Kristoff?"

Getting the hint, Kristoff stepped forward alongside me to try and get his drunken princess girlfriend down. "Anna, do what Aiden says."

Just then Anna flashed one of her big grins and looked down at the two of us. "I...I will attempt the…ah, what the hell, catch me!"

"Wait, what?!" Me and Kristoff stuttered together and before we could think of anything else, Anna leapt forward with the grace of a diver and landed right on top of us which caused us to hit the floor. This was more painful for me as I still had bad bruising from that certain beat down from sometime ago and I groaned in agony at the landing. Wasn't everyday I suppose a smashed princess lands on top of you I suppose.

Apart from Kristoff, everyone else was speechless at what they were seeing while Anna, now straddling on top of Kristoff, seemed unaware of the scene she was causing and instead look rather proud of what she'd just done. "Ha! How was that?!"

"Anna, come on!" Kristoff exhaled and tried to gently move the crown princess off from him while at the same time giving the three other ice harvesters a dirty glare for what they had done to his girlfriend.

Despite being in some pain, I slowly got up but then I noticed that as Anna was being helped up by Kristoff, she was starting to look green in the face and her changeable mood now went to one of discomfort. "Oh…Kristoff…I don't feel so…uh oh…"

Then it all happened.

Before I knew what was happening, Anna covered her mouth, made a gulping sound and then suddenly threw up all over my waistcoat and trousers. Being in such a shock, I couldn't seem to react for about a few seconds as Anna vomited up on me being the unlucky individual having to endure this. Everyone didn't say anything as neither seemed to know what to do as the party had taken a rather messy turn.

"Oh… _Oh_ damn, sorry Aiden…" Anna garbled as she finished the last of her vomiting season.

 _At least she got my name right._

Then I looked down and saw the utter state I was in, all covered in sick.

 _This damn suit was brand new too!_

"A…are you ok, Anna?" Olaf spoke up softly, though Anna looked clearly now worse for wear and this the last straw for Kristoff who looked over at me and Olaf.

"Guys, you get these _friends_ out of here and I'll take Anna to her room," Kristoff instructed while putting some emphasis on the word 'friends'.

"No problem mate," I replied and as Kristoff gently led Anna out of the room, it was not time to eject the party guests.

"Right ye lot, party's over, away wi' ye!" I ordered while the Brian, Alex and Eric all protested their innocence.

"Not our fault!" Eric cried.

"She should've known what she was doing!" Brian added.

"I'm not going home so early now!" Alex snorted.

Me and Olaf shook our heads at their stupid attempts to justified what had happened as I quickly replied. "No way ye lot, when a member of the royal family is…somewhat out of action…it's time to go. And seein' as it was yer fault ye got Princess Anna like that, move it!"

The guys had no intention of going and they were now looking more angry at the thought that they were the culprits here, but thankfully Sven stepped in to help out as he began using his antlers as a shovel to lead them out of the room while Olaf helped out and I led ahead.

"It's not our fault!" Eric objected more as he and the others now approached the main door to the castle being now practically pushed out by Sven.

"Only yerself's to blame," I replied dryly. "Ye got that bloody drink and look what's happened."

"But it wasn't for her, she just went for it!" Brian moaned.

"Doesn't matter who it was for, when the princess is down an' out, then it's time to leave."

"Are we being a bit too harsh?" Olaf whispered to me. Admittedly he did have a point, they might've not meant for Anna to get sick, but seeing as Kristoff wanted them out, plus the fact he didn't want them there in the first place and the fact my new suit was ruined, it all seemed stack against the ice trio.

"Not at all," I whispered. "Just do what I do and then we can check on Anna."

"What were you guys saying?" Alex questioned, though Sven gave him another shove forward as we now exited through the castle doors. Nearby were a few guards were having a chat with each other and they then surprised when they saw us.

"Don't mind us, they were just leaving," I lied and Sven forced them forward before either of them had a chance to reply and in the end with the confused guards looking on, they reluctantly gave up arguing as they didn't want to make a scene out in the open.

Though they didn't shout abuse at us, they either gave us a dirty glare or flipped the bird at us. Nonetheless they finally out of here and I felt satisfied that they had gone, and Sven looked very proud as if he accomplished something major. That all being said I felt bad for Olaf who being the innocence snowman that he was didn't quite understand what that certain gesture from the guys meant and he looked visible confused by it all.

"Don't know about you but…I kind of feel bad about this," Olaf sighed.

I remembered what he had said when we were trying to get the three of them out of the building, I knew he was frankly the last person in the world who would wish to kick anyone out as he was happy to welcome anyone and this must've felt alien to him.

I smiled and rubbed his head. "Ah don't feel that way, some folk deserve to be kicked out such as those idiots. Ye'll learn in future."

That seemed to help his mood and that familiar smile of his returned. "So…now what?" He then asked.

I looked up seeing that dusk was slowly turning into night and remembered about the ill princess. "Well, first thing is to make that Elsa doesn't find out about—"

"About what?" Came a certain female voice and the three of us were startled and the unexpected voice and behind was Elsa who both looked confused and suspicious at the situation, though she noticed the vomit on me. "What's going on and…what happened to you, Aiden?"

I struggled to speak, feeling like I had lost my voice which would happened if you had to drop a bombshell on the Queen. "Well…um, ye see, Olaf?"

"You go first," Olaf retorted.

"What?"

"You go first."

"H-hey! I don't wanna—"

"Fergusson!" Elsa snapped; she'd only ever use my second name if I might've done something rather foolish.

"Y-Yes yer highness?" I stuttered.

"I won't ask again," Elsa replied. "What is going _on_?"

Me, Olaf and Sven all glanced at each other, though all eyes were on me to explain everything. "The thing is…Kristoff, wanted, ye know, those guys out of here."

"What for?" Elsa questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Somethin' happened up there that, well, it kinda went all to pot. Nothin' is damaged though, Thankfully." Elsa stared at me waiting for me to get on with it. No point hiding, I had to explain the details now. "It's…regardin' Princess Anna…"

Around us, the temperature dropped, and bits of ice started to develop around the door frame and that was always a sign whenever Elsa felt worried or angry, mostly whenever it involved her sister in trouble.

"What happened?" Elsa demanded, her blue eyes now with hints of fear in them.

"Nothin' bad per say happened, ok, maybe one that involved _this_." I pointed at the vomit remains on my suit and Elsa winced at this fact, though I carried on speaking. "If you remember that gift they got for Kristoff, Anna got…well…somewhat, pissed out of her head."

"Other than that, she's fine though," Olaf suddenly added, though his words caused me to pinch the bridge of my nose.

No sooner as we had said all that, Elsa's look went to one of horror and dashed up the stairs towards the royal bed chambers. That would mark the end of a rather eventful birthday, not the most pleasant one I'll admit but one that I won't be forgetting in a hurry. Anna would make a full recovery after that but until Elsa gave her little sister a good talking to and in future, we had to make sure that Anna wouldn't drink that much so quickly in future.

And finally, those bloody ice harvesters known as Alex, Brian and Eric, would never be allowed to step foot in the castle again. I would have to tell Kristoff to find himself a new set of friends in his line of work someday…

* * *

 **Poor, poor Anna. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one and look forward for the next one as the next will feature characters from another certain Disney film...I think you might know who it might be.**

 **Until then, catch you later!**


	11. Heroes and Villians

**Finally an update and the longest chapter yet! Sorry for the delay, work has been getting in the way plus I'm getting ready to move in with my missus soon, nonetheless here we are with an update. So here we will get a Tangled crossover which isn't all that common among other Frozen fanfics, but this doesn't have Eugene and Rapunzel as the main focuses as such. You'll soon find out so without anything else to say, here we go...**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Heroes and Villains**

There was a joke my Dad would say that no matter what royal family you met in Europe, they'd all be related to each other and in some ways, this was actually very true. For generations there have been tales of princes and princess being sent away to marry into another royal family in some far-off land far for either political, alliances, stability or for convenient sake to produce an heir, very rarely any that was of genuine love. The more I thought about it from when I started working as a servant, I felt sorrier for royals oddly enough as their lives were to be do nothing more than the above mentioned. Granted sometimes there are exceptions in which neither of the above matter and in the terms of Anna and Kristoff, a royal would instead choose a commoner for the sake of love. Sadly, there weren't many like those two out in the many kingdoms around the continent.

I'm going off a tangent here but to get back on topic about all the royals being related to each other, Arendelle's own royal family would be no exception to the rule as over in the kingdom of Corona, they had cousins over there and it would be they who would be paying us an overdue visit. It would be a day I wouldn't forget for very different reason, in mixed way too…

Waking up early as I normally did on a warm Friday morning, I was looking in the mirror while giving myself a shave. I was wearing only my black trousers as I hadn't got round to putting the rest of my clothes on as I wanted to make sure I didn't get any of the shaving foam on my clothes and I did take the chance to look at my physical appearance and was pleased to see that most of the bad bruising I had received from the Dahl brothers had now started to heal and I did feel a lot better.

"Can't keep me down so easily," I muttered quietly to myself looking very pleased at how I looked and there was a good reason for that. The reason was that today the prince and princess of Corona were making a visit and when it came to visiting guests, everyone had to look good wherever you were a royal or servant.

Then came the sound of knocking at the door and the sudden noise not only made me jump but nearly caused me to cut myself with the knife which would've a painful and embarrassing moment. "God damn it," I hissed angrily then looked over at the door. "Hello?"

"Are you up, Aiden?" Came the sound of Kai's voice.

"Hold on sir," I replied as I went over to get myself my button shirt for the day. Why was he here so early in the day?

As I scurried over towards the door, I opened it for Kai to enter though I noticed he had both his arms behind his back as if he was hiding something. "Is…everythin' alright, sir? Sorry I'm not fully dressed yet."

"No need to apologise," Kai assured me. "I would've guessed you were getting ready for the day ahead."

"Nae harm lookin' good for visitors," I replied. "Actually, what are their names again?"

"They are Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene," Kai answered.

I nodded. "Ahh, thanks for that but…why are ye here to see me?"

Kai then looked thoughtful at me. "Aiden, you know how long you've been working here for?"

"God, umm…six, no, seven months I think?"

"A short time here, but nonetheless you've done quite a lot round here since you started."

I gave Kai a confused look. "Uhm, what are ye tryin' to say? Did I do somethin' wrong?"

Kai then chuckled. "No, no dear boy, on the contrary, you've helped a lot regarding the royal sisters such as that vile countess, avoiding conflict between the sisters and the Dahl brothers and that's not including the many hours of work that you've done working here."

"Well…it's all nothin'," I replied sheepishly. "Just happy to put my duties for the Queen."

"As of a result, you'll be getting a bonus," Kai added and from behind his back and showing in one hand was a bagful of coins.

I felt my heart flip at this sudden surprise. "Wait, _what_? Hold on…I thought ye only got a raise say a year or two after ye started working as a servant?"

"You are correct with that and you would've followed just that, however this was requested by Princess Anna herself."

"Anna? W-what'd I do to get _that_?"

Kai seemed to find my shocked look rather amusing if the look on his face was anything to go by. "Funnily enough, nothing on this occasion that you did, but rather what, well, _she_ did…"

Slowly the gears in my head began to work it out. "Hang on, is this regardin' about, ye know what…?"

"About the princess'… _incident_ , with you on Sir Kristoff's birthday…? _Yes_ ," Kai agreed and briefly shuddered at the thought. Couldn't blame him for thinking of a princess vomiting down your front. "Sorry you had to experience that."

"No harm done," I offered. "She did learn a lesson I suppose…but anyway, back on topic."

Kai placed the bag of money on my bed. "According to Princess Anna, she wanted to apologise for what she did back then and wanted to make it up to you. Thus, this bonus."

"But I—"

"Not only that, she did take into account how much you had helped out as I've mentioned before and thought with all that in mind that you deserved this at least."

I was floored. I couldn't believe after what I had just heard. After all that had happened, was Anna serious about this? "I…Does Queen Elsa know about this?"

The overseer thought for a moment. "Now you mention, I'm not aware if Princess Anna mentioned this to her, I do hope she did though…"

"Bloody hope so," I muttered. "Feels like we're doin' some black-market stuff here."

Kai chuckled and briefly looked in the mirror to adjust his collar. "Speaking of which, I'd be careful with that stuff."

"How'd you mean?"

Kai then looked over with a troubled expression. "Have you heard of the news?"

"What news?"

"There have a been a number of reports about various criminal activities across Arendelle, worryingly a large number of them too."

"H…How long has this been goin' on for?"

Kai sighed and rubbed his chin. "Started two weeks ago I believe. Admittedly I didn't think much of it, but more and more have been reporting about break in's and valuables stolen from homes."

"Anythin' bein' done to stop this?" I inquired as I had one eye on the bag of money in case it was to suddenly disappear. "Can't believe I've not heard about this."

"Not only you," Kai admitted. "I didn't want to spread fear around the castle that anyone could be targeted. Nonetheless the Queen will be acting upon this crimewave and hopefully will put an end to it."

I was left numb by this sudden news. I could understand why Kai or even Elsa didn't want to cause panic among us royal staff members, but it did leave me conflicted how to feel about this.

"Sir…Ye don't think…?"

"That we could be targeted? We can never be too careful."

Then I realised something. "Hang about, why are ye tellin' me this and not anyone else?"

"Well _that_ of course," Kai replied pointing over at the money bag on the bed. "I'd keep it in a safe place if I were you."

"Aye, good call sir," I muttered and went quiet then. While I was thankful to be warned about any potential situation, it did feel like it couldn't have come at a worst time with our royal visitors due to arrive today. God forbid they were to get caught up in any of this.

The mood had turned uncertain and all that sudden excitement that filled me when Kai gave me that money seemed to evaporate. Wasn't his fault for telling me, but now I had to put those fears and doubts to one side and prepare for the day ahead.

"See you later, Aiden. Remember to look sharp," Kai said, giving me a pat on my shoulder before leaving my room. Soon as he was gone, I said nothing but glanced over at my, hopefully not-to-be-stolen, new money bag and prayed hope that all those rumours about criminals would not trouble us.

How very wrong I was to be…

It wouldn't be until late in the afternoon in which the royals from Corona would arrive at Arendelle after a long journey by sea. A small entourage of guards were sent down towards the harbour to meet up with them and lead them to the castle while everyone else like myself there at the castle waited for their arrival.

Despite the fact I had lived in Arendelle for a good many years, I'm afraid to say my knowledge on the family tree of the Arendelle royals and any relatives that they have is poor due to the fact that for many years when Elsa and Anna were isolated behind those gates that me and Dad knew little about them and that I hadn't bothered to do any research about the extended family when I started working here. Looking back on the latter, it seemed a silly thing to leave out but all in all, I was about to see Elsa and Anna's relatives in the flesh, and I could only ponder what they might be like.

In the courtyard, I was standing at the bottom of the steps along side Kai and another servant called Tommy with our job being to collect the visitors' luggage and take it up to their room. We of course weren't the only ones there as up at the top of the stairs near the door were Elsa and Anna who were waiting with a look of trepidation and curiosity, not sure that look was either for the visitors or if they were aware of Arendelle's recent crimewave and that visiting royals would be an easy target.

What struck me though was the sight of not only a line of guards standing nearby awaiting the arrival, but also up on the battlements where several guards standing and watching for any suspicious activity in the area. While granted it was common to see many guards out whenever we had special visitors, but it seemed to occur to me that there were a lot more than usual. Was this to do with the crime wave or that this was a special case that the visitors were Anna and Elsa's cousins was unclear to me, either way it seemed no chances were being taken.

As we stood there waiting, Kai seemed like something was troubling him and he looked over towards Elsa and Anna in which they shared similar expression as if they knew something.

"You alright, sir?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Kai sighed. "It's just…there is something rather awkward about the arrival couple from Corona."

"What'd ye mean? Has somethin' happened?"

"No, nothing like that. You see, do you remember when King Agnarr and Queen Iduna…passed away…?"

"A-aye, horrible what happened," I stuttered though I could see that whatever Kai was thinking of did make his eyes moist and even Tommy seemed concerned about him. "W…what do they have to do with the visitors?"

Kai then drew in a heavy sigh. "If…if you could remember what happened then, they were going to a wedding, that being—"

"Elsa and Anna's cousin's _wedding_?" I finished for him in which he lowered his head and nodded sadly. Even though I didn't know how much he knew the former King and Queen of Arendelle, their tragic passing at sea still seemed to affect him after all these years. "Sorry if I asked too much."

"No don't," Kai insisted. "It was just a terrible set of circumstances that had to happen then. Plus, with the fact that the niece they were visiting is arriving here today just makes it feel…"

"It's ok sir," I muttered quietly.

Just then Tommy, who had been quiet in all of this, suddenly spoke up. "Here they come, guys."

Sure enough almost on cue, a loud cry could be heard coming from the stone bridge shouting out, "Make way!" At long last our visitors were here. Flanked by two guards on mounted horseback on each side, a royal carriage emerged from the gates being led by two horses with a white horse tagging behind the coach and rather than focus on the occupants of the coach, I found myself draw to that white horse which seemed to scan the area for trouble and I was sure that this horse wasn't any of our own from the stables.

When I did look upon at the convertible coach was when I did get my first look of the royal couple. There was a brunette princess, being Rapunzel, who was wearing a simple yet pleasant looking cream dress and when I got a better look at her, I could see she had blazing green eyes. However it was her short hair that caught my attention as it was the strangest haircut you might've expected from a princess as it was spikey in places and seemed to be the result of what I could only assume was a rotten haircut. Poor girl.

On her other side was the prince, Eugene, and he too had brown hair that looked more natural if I say so myself, but he had a scruffy looking goatee that looked untidy in my opinion.

 _And I always thought Ivar's goatee looked pretty bad._

The man also had light brown eyes and wore a long black sleeved shirt with a dark purple sleeveless jacket on top and I couldn't help but noticed that by the way he was shuffling in his seat that he looked uncomfortable in his outfit.

Eventually the coach came to a stop by the stairs and Kai motioned me to open the door for the pair in which I shuffled over to do that task. "Welcome to Arendelle and watch your step please," I greeted in the politest tone I could muster.

Rapunzel was the first to exit from the coach and she smiled at me. "Thank you," she replied and then I noticed on her shoulder was a small animal, a green chameleon with big eyes, and Rapunzel seemed to notice my reaction to the little creature. "This is Pascal," she then added, and I swear I thought the chameleon gave me a wink.

At first I thought I was drunk that an animal could do that, but then again with Sven and the sight of this mysterious white horse eying up several people around the courtyard, I was starting to realise that intelligent animals like them seemed more common than I thought. So much for a sheltered life I've had all this time. Just shortly after Rapunzel exited, Eugene followed behind and gave me unexpected pat on the back and flashed a grin at me. Judging by his mannerism, he seemed anything like a prince so part of me was relieved that he wasn't one of those stuck up or backstabbing princes that Arendelle's had its fair share of late.

"Your highnesses," Kai then spoke up towards Elsa and Anna at the top of the stairs while just then Kristoff had joined them. "Introducing Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene of Corona."

It was likely the first time the cousins had met face-to-face and Rapunzel seemed unsure who to greet first, though thankfully it would be Elsa that, pardon the pun, who'd break the ice. "Welcome to Arendelle, Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene," she said regally in which she'd do whenever we had special visitors.

It wasn't the most excitable meeting of an extended family you'd imagine, then again with Anna and Elsa having little knowledge about their extended family, no thanks to them being isolated for all those years, it wasn't hard to imagine why they seemed reluctant.

Oddly enough though it would Pascal that help the mood in which Anna caught sight of him. "Oh! Is that a chameleon?" She asked excitedly and hurried down the stairs to get a better look at him and Rapunzel had no trouble in lifting him of her shoulder and placing him in her hands for Anna to gaze down at him.

If you remember, Anna loved animals so I should've known seen she was going to take an interest in the little chameleon as soon as she saw him, plus that look of childish wonder she had when gazing at the green chameleon pretty much said it all that she was hooked.

"This is Pascal," Rapunzel stated. "He's been my friend since I was a kid."

"How'd you get him?" Anna asked, still not taking her eyes of Pascal and I could see that the little creature was enjoying the attention and even began to change colour by blending in with Rapunzel's dress which made the crown Princess of Arendelle gasp in wonder. Just like a child seeing a new toy for the first time.

"I found him when entered my tower," Rapunzel replied.

"Huh? A tower?" Anna questioned, now looking up at her cousin.

Before we knew within a matter of seconds, their small talk about each other's past quickly extended into a full blown conversation about a variety of various topics from places, mad adventures they'd had and that they were happy to see each other as cousins, all going at a mile a minute I might add and while Anna's big mouth might've been annoying at times, it had worked wonders in helping get things off to a good start.

 _Thank you, Pascal, for helping out in a small way._

So much was Anna and Rapunzel's quickly blossoming friendship and happy discussion that they had forgotten about the rest of us who could only look on in slight amusement of just this and it would Eugene who cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Rapunzel apologised with a giggle and pulled her husband over alongside her. "Anna, I'd like you to meet my husband, Eugene Fitzherbert."

" _Fitzherbert_? What a bloody name," I chuckled quietly to myself, though I quickly shut up when I thought I saw the prince giving me a glare.

Luckily he didn't have time to respond when Anna rushed back up the stairs again and this time dragged a slightly embarrassed Kristoff down with her. "Rapunzel, Eugene, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Kristoff and up there—"

Just as Anna was about to introduce Elsa, suddenly there came a voice from behind Elsa and we all turned to look behind the Snow Queen and there running down the stairs towards Eugene and Rapunzel as much as his little legs could manage was a certain snowman…

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"

Eugene's eyes widened in shock. "Wha…Is that a… _snowman_?!"

"Yes," Elsa giggled at his reaction as she made her way down to join the rest. "I made him."

"She makes living snow _creatures_?!" Eugene stuttered and grabbed his wife's arm as if he feared Olaf would attack him. "How is that possible and…how has he not melted?!" Of course, the only thing that Olaf was capable of attacking you with was warm hugs, but I didn't say anything as I was finding Eugene's shocked reaction hilarious.

As more greetings and pleasantries were exchanged, this was when me, Kai and Tommy began to start unpacking the luggage on the back of the coach with Kai and Tommy working together by unloading a large heavy truck off the back while I carried off two suitcases along with them. However just as we finished doing that, the white horse suddenly got right in front of our faces and we were left stock-still not knowing how to react as the horse first stared us down, then began to sniff each of us.

First he checked Tommy, then Kai and finally me in which it looked like it was looking for something, though I did notice that the horse had it's riding gear on and under it's neck there was a pendent that spelt out the word _'Maximus'_.

After sniffing and checking me, the white stallion seemed satisfied and displayed a proud look to the royals.

"Don't think anything of it," Eugene grinned at the three of us. "Maximus' just checking to make sure you're not spies or bandits."

Tommy spluttered in disbelieve. " _Spies_?! I damn well work here!"

Maximus then displayed a pouted expression on his muzzle as if he had been insulted and Rapunzel noticed this. " _Well_ …you can never too careful and he's only doing his job after all." She then began stroking Maximus' muzzle. "You are such a good boy, aren't you?"

Maximus neighed happily and it became clear to us that the horse was a rather vain and proud animal who was total contrast to the rather chilled out Sven. I even wonder if he'd wanted to stay in the stables if it wasn't up to his standards.

It was then that Eugene's comment of bandits made me realise something. "Are they aware of the crimewave in Arendelle?" I whispered to Kai and he shook his head in response.

Before we could say anything else, Elsa called out. "Aiden."

"Yes, your highness?" I replied.

"I'd like you to lead our guests to their room please."

"Very well, your highness."

With that said while carrying the suitcases with me, I motioned the prince and princess to follow me inside the castle, while Maximus sat there and eyed me suspiciously as we left. That horse was really starting to creep me out.

And so we entered the castle and I led them towards the wing of the castle in which was where usual visitors to Arendelle castle were sent to and at this point there is one rule that I think I might bring up whenever a servant interacts with visiting royalty or someone of an upper-class nature. The rule is pretty much simple and one that is drilled into you when you start training as a servant, lead the visiting guests to their room while not engaging in any small chat and only speak to them whenever they are expected for a meeting with the Queen; apparently most members of the upper class didn't have the time or even wanted to chat with servants which did feel rather petty in my view.

Though I could tell that Eugene and Rapunzel from these first impressions were nothing like those snooty types and seemed happy enough for such small talk, it wasn't right for some servant to strike up a conversation, though it would be them who'd break the silence as they noticed something through one of the many windows down in the courtyard.

"Thought that would happen," Eugene sighed.

"Don't tell me. Maximus?" Rapunzel asked.

Taking a quick glance over to what the royal couple were looking at, there was Maximus being led to the castle's stables by three staff members, however they weren't having any luck bringing him in as the proud stallion didn't look impressed by his living quarters. To this day I still have never seen a horse act like that for any stables.

"Hey bud," Eugene called over to me.

I was taken of guard as I didn't know how to greet other royalty other than Elsa and Anna. "Um…aye yer highness?"

"Is there any other stable that he might like?" Eugene inquired.

"Um…not really, those are the only one's here, so…yeah."

Rapunzel sighed thoughtfully. "He'll get use to it, then again him having his own private stable back home probably wasn't a good idea as it did go to his head."

This caught my attention. "Beg pardon but…his _own_ stable?"

"Well of course," Rapunzel smiled as we carried on walking. "He is the captain of the guard's horse and he did a lot to help me and Eugene to be who we are today."

"T…that horse did somethin'?"

"How can I forget!" Eugene chuckled. "He chased me around like no tomorrow which ended up me finding Rapunzel when she was locked away in a tower."

I was left clueless by where this was going and the two of them seemed to sense that. "Ok…long story," Rapunzel began telling of how she and Eugene met which was probably the strangest get together you'd expect from royalty, then again there was the tale how Anna and Kristoff got together so I suppose it's a trope that runs in the family.

For the next minute they then told me a lot from the fact that Rapunzel once had long golden hair that, believe me here, had powers to heal and make people younger. However, when she was a baby, she was kidnapped from the palace by a wicked woman known as Mother Gothel who would raise Rapunzel as her own and to hoard her powers to keep her young, never once letting Rapunzel to know about her past. What a bitch.

Then Eugene had an interesting back story of his own to tell in which he mentioned he was raised in an orphanage and then took on a life of thieving and went by alias of 'Flynn Rider'. He went out claiming that he stole a crown than by a coincidence was in fact Rapunzel's crown and that after being chased by guards and one certain Maximus, he found the lost princess in her tower and made a deal for her to see these floating lanterns she always wanted to see. Anyway, much hijinks and one thing leading to another, they eventually got together and were now married.

And there was I thinking that Anna and Kristoff's adventure took some beating.

As they finished most of the details in their story, I was left quite stunned by it all. "Wow…that's...really somethin' yer highnesses."

As we neared their room, Eugene was giving me an odd look. "You're not from here, are you?"

 _Here we go again…_

I sighed. "No, I'm from Scotland originally but I've lived here for most o' my life."

"That's a place near England, right?" Rapunzel's grin appeared and I was taken aback at the fact that someone was right!

 _THANK YOU!_

"Aye…that ye. Normally I correct idiots who get it wrong but it's nice to know some people know their stuff." I paused as something about the name 'Flynn Rider' that Eugene mentioned earlier seemed to ring a bell. "Hang on a minute, sir…."

"Yes?" Eugene replied.

"Flynn Rider," I began. "I'm sure I've heard that name from somewhere…wait…is it based on, what's it called again…somethin' tales—Oh, what I remember! 'The Tales of Flynnigan Rider?'"

The brunette man's face lit up with joy. "No way! You got that book too?!"

"My Dad used to read it to me when I was a kid," I remembered. "Never thought I'd meet someone else who liked it. What bit did you like in it, yer highnesses?"

"Oh boy where to begin!" Eugene chuckled and just like what happened with Rapunzel and Anna earlier, me and Eugene began chat a mile a minute about our favourite moments from those stories and it must've been quite the strange picture to visualize. Two grown men, one a former thief now a prince and a common as muck servant boy, were geeking out over a childhood book while Rapunzel was stuck there in the middle with a look of 'Great, there's two of them now.'

After all that, we finally ended up at the door leading to their room and I lowered one of the suitcases to open the door up for them. "Here ye go, make yerself's at home yer highnesses."

Eugene then rested himself on the doorframe and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, look here Aiden, how about you drop the whole 'highness' thing and just call us by our names just?"

"Huh, ye sure about that?" I questioned, only Anna had ever told me to do just that.

"Sure of course," Eugene grinned. "Anyone who knows about Flynnigan Rider means a hell of a lot to me, plus I've never liked that whole 'highness' crap to begin with."

" _Eugene_ ," Rapunzel's voice called from inside the room which made me chuckle.

"Anyway then," I began clearing my throat. "Dinner with the Queen will be within an hour's time so please remember to be down there for then."

"Thank you, Aiden," Rapunzel replied.

I found myself smiling. "So…I'll leave ye two to settle in and…yeah."

With nothing else to say I headed off down the corridor where I found Kai and Tommy carrying the heavy truck up the stairs in which I quickly pointed out to them where Eugene and Rapunzel were residing in. For once it felt good to know that there were royals out there that weren't stuck up buffoons and that those two seemed to treat me as a person and not as mud under their shoes.

However, I realised that amidst all the chat I managed to get on with them, I forgotten to tell them about the news of Arendelle's sudden crimewave. I did debate with myself that if even telling special guests about recent problems in this kingdom was really a good idea and not to get them worried. My only hope that their visit would be trouble free…

That evening the royals from Corona were having dinner in the main dining hall with Elsa, Anna and Kristoff and so far it had all gone well with Rapunzel and Anna getting on like a house on fire and Kristoff getting on well with Eugene, though the former didn't seem to appreciate some of Eugene's past exploits of thieving. Even Elsa was enjoying herself after she had finished an important bit of paperwork for this visit was more than just a jolly for the guests. Previously Arendelle and Corona had close relations with their respected royal families, however following the tragic death of the former King and Queen or Arendelle, relations between the two kingdoms went into a state of flux. Following Elsa's coronation however, there was now the chance to mend relations and Rapunzel and Eugene had been sent out to agree on the deal for future trade and other political jargon in which I won't go too much into detail with.

It was a surprise to many of us that this wasn't their first visit to Arendelle for both Rapunzel and Eugene had been here to represent Corona and had hoped for meet up, then came Elsa's sudden great freeze and…well, you know the details by now.

"Looking back on, I can laugh about it now," Rapunzel said to Elsa as they chatted about their previous visit while I was handing out the dessert courses.

"Wouldn't say so really," Elsa answered with a thoughtful expression. "I'm still amazed people are willing to forgive me after all that."

"No one got hurt though, maybe a but chilly though," Rapunzel noted. "But that's all in the past now, cousin."

Elsa sighed. "I suppose so…"

I had just then handed over Eugene's course when he gave me a friendly thumbs up. "Thanks, Aiden."

"Uh, no problem yer high—I mean, _Eugene_ ," I said sheepishly, and this did not unnoticed by Elsa and Anna.

"Is something going on?" Elsa questioned.

My eyes darted back and forth. "Uh, well…"

"It's ok I gave him permission to do so," Eugene answered for me. "This guy knows about the tales of Flynnigan Rider! Amazed to find a servant who's knows about it!"

The two Arendelle sisters bore looks of bemusement about what on earth Eugene was talking about, clearly they hadn't read that book, though Kristoff rubbed his chin in thought. "Actually…that does sound…"

But before he could finish his sentence, one of our maids, Mary, came rushing into the room gasping for air after running from wherever she had come from. "Your highness! Oh, good heavens!"

"What's wrong?" Elsa asked and rose up from her seat.

Mary was breathing heavily and looked hysterical over whatever had happened. "T…There's been a…break in…and Kai's badly injured!"

My heart stopped when I heard Kai was in trouble and everyone else at the table now stood up in shock while ice began to form around the room from Elsa indicating that she was disturbed by this news. "Where did this happened and where is Kai?!" Elsa demanded.

"T-the servant's quarters…it all happened there!" Mary stammered with tears starting to flow down her cheeks.

Without a further warning, everyone else ran out of the room towards the servant's quarters while Dominik, one of the other servants working alongside me during that moment, stayed behind to comfort the distressed Mary. I did think to help a fellow colleague there, but hearing Kai was in trouble made me determined to help him out.

As we headed through the many corridors towards that area, commotion could be heard from other members of staff who all couldn't comprehend what had just happened and to sum it all up, the whole castle felt like it had been turned on it's head and it was likely it had never experience something like this before. As we did head down into the lower reaches of the castle in which the servant's quarters were located, the rare sight of royalty heading down there only added to situation and a thousand thoughts were going through my mind over what we were to expect.

When we got there, it was worse than I thought.

The servant's quarters was a long stone corridor in which had many different rooms for each of the royal staff members living in the castle, but I and for those who arrived there that wasn't important as we all soon looked towards a small group of servants and maids gathered around something on the ground and looking flustered. It was soon revealed that that the something on the ground was a badly injured Kai and there was a gasp by the princesses in which it was seen that Kai had been struck on the head with something and was bleeding badly with a trail going down his face.

"Oh my God, Kai!" I cried and rushed forward to help him along with the others, thankfully he was conscious groaning in pain but needed treatment quickly. Thankfully Doctor Rowan, the castle's doctor, was trying his best to heal the injured overseer.

"What's happened here?" Elsa demanded as she stared at the other staff members there, her eyes showing growing fury within them.

"Some gang of criminals broke in, your highness!" Called out a servant coming out of one of the rooms. "Kai tried to stop them but…"

He didn't need to say anything as he looked down at Kai as me and some others helped him to one of the rooms to recover and just then frost began to develop around the corridor, no prizes as to guessing who was having anxiety.

"Why did they come down here for?" Anna muttered in disbelieve. "Why here of all places?"

It was a very valid question as the servant's quarters' was not the first place you'd expect when someone was trying raid a castle, though it was only when I got a better look down the corridor when the magnitude of the damage as these criminals had done. Almost every door leading to all the bedrooms here had been broken into and I horrible thought struck me in which I realised that my room would be no different to the rest and as I ran out of that room and towards my own, my worst fears were realised.

To say it had been turned upside down would be an understatement as the room looked like a pack of wolves had ravished it. The bed had been ruined and a cabinet with some draws had been dragged out and their contents all scattered all over the room as if they had been looking for something. Then I began looking frantically for something important that Kai had given me that day…

That money bag was gone.

It was an awful moment that after what looked like an unexpected treat for me had been yanked away in the cruellest of fashions and you're possible wondering where I might've hidden it. Well, it was pretty stupid…under the bed.

Yeah, looking back on it with hindsight it wasn't the best place to put as it might've been found by anyone, let alone some criminals, but it was a right kick in the teeth knowing that my money had been stolen. The only consolation I had as I shuffled out my room looking depressed was that other members of staff I could hear were all bemoaning that they had all too suffered similar fates with what I heard.

"My anniversary gift for my wife has gone!"

"They've stolen my grandmother's earrings!"

"All my prized valuables have gone!"

Those were just some of the things I heard, and I looked over to one certain room nearby my own which belonged to Ivar and I felt bad for him. The guy was away on his honeymoon (if you remembered that he married the butcher's daughter after his little… _incident_ ) and was completely oblivious to the fact that belongings that he owned had been plundered. Poor bastard was going to have the worst news when he returned.

Looking to the other end of the room, the captain of the guard and several of his soldiers had now arrived and Elsa was going over what had just happened and by her angry expression, she was far from happy at how there was now criminals somewhere in the castle.

"How can you let this happen?" Elsa angrily asked.

"Your highness, how they got in was an utter fluke," the captain of the guard responded. "We've had guards stationed all around the castle…it appears though we may have underestimated that a way in through the servant's quarters might've been possible."

Elsa may had been a head shorter than the captain, but the fury that was growing in her blue eyes would've made any brave man tremble and the sharp drop in the corridor said a lot how she felt. "Look, I don't care how they might've got in or where they are now in the castle…find them, _now_!"

I sheepishly walked past and towards Eugene and Rapunzel who looked more confused than anything about what was going on and that I felt rather sorry for them that they had been forgotten about by Elsa and Anna. "Look…I'm so sorry about all this…"

"What are you sorry about? You've done nothing wrong," Eugene replied.

I bit my bottom lip as I had to tell them about the crimewave. "Earlier on…I should've told ye about somethin' that has been happenin' in Arendelle of late and not of the good kind."

"Like what?" Rapunzel asked.

"We've had a crimewave," I confessed. "I didn't want to tell, or actually not sure if I was allowed to tell ye to begin with, about this as ye might've thought twice about the place…Christ, it had to all happen at a _worst_ time too…"

The two visiting royals looked at me with sympathise expressions, then looked over towards Elsa, Anna and Kristoff in a small huddle chatting about what to do about the chaos that had happened (the captain of the guard and his forces had since left). "Wouldn't feel too bad about it," Eugene said thoughtfully. "I suppose it does add a bit of excitement on this trip."

"Erm, I wouldn't exactly think of it as that," I replied.

Rapunzel was rubbing the side of her head and I thought she was having a sudden headache or something. "Are ye ok, babe?" Eugene asked.

Then her blazing green eyes widened and a large grin appeared on her face. "Of course! I've got it!"

"Got what?" Kristoff asked with Elsa, Anna and some of the remaining staff members hanging about the corridor.

"I know someone who can help us, be right back!" Rapunzel replied happily and quickly ran back down the corridor to wherever she was going and the rest of us were all left confused. At this moment someone should've asked for Rapunzel to have a guard with her as there was the likely chance she'd be caught by dangerous criminals, but instead all eyes turned on Eugene.

"Where is going and what is this all about?" Elsa inquired.

Eugene though placed his hands on his hips and gazed at the ground saying nothing but trying to figure it out for himself. Then after a moment of thinking about it, it dawned on him and his eyes widened. "Oh…Oh, of course! Why'd didn't I think of that before?!"

"Think what?!" I asked frustratedly wanting to know what on earth was going on. Eugene though didn't need to say anything as not long later, his wife would return (thankfully in one piece) but in tow she brought down into the corridor was a certain white stallion…

"A horse?" Anna eyed suspiciously, though Maximus would let out an undignified snort.

"Not just any old horse is Maximus," Rapunzel corrected. "He can help us out who did this and where they are now."

Exactly how of horse was going to help us, let alone how Rapunzel managed to get such an animal inside the castle was a mystery, but that the latter wasn't really something that crossed out minds admittedly. The Snow Queen pondered for a moment what to make of it, but then she realised she might've had little choice. "Ok then…let's see what he can do."

The moment she said that, Maximus began his sniffing routine he had done earlier on me and began going around the corridor like a trained dog more than anything, it was unlike anything you'd seen a horse do and it became something a strange spectacle as Maximus did his thing. He carried on towards near the end of the corridor and stopped in his tracks as he saw something that had caught his attention and began neighing at his find.

Many of us headed down to where the white stallion was and when we got there, he was looking at a medium sized window that had been smashed. As I peered through the smashed window that it became clear that this was the way the criminals had managed to get through as not only was it just big enough to fit someone through it, but that it proved to be a sneaky way into the castle that wasn't thought possible.

While the servant's quarters was built looking out to the fjord and with it being a vertical brick wall on the outside, there was a small rocky beach area by where the window was the only section that anyone could've gotten in and the rocky beach led all the way around the base of the castle towards the stone bridge. How anyone had failed to notice this secret way into the castle seemed strange but one that I assured that Elsa would not allow this to happen again.

"Good boy, Max!" Rapunzel gushed and stroked the stallion's nuzzle and Maximus looked very proud of his efforts and even I swear flashed a raised eyebrow at us.

"That's solved how they got in," Anna muttered. "But where are they now?"

Soon as she said that, Maximus began sniffing his way down the corridor and then suddenly sensed something before taking off in a quick dash.

"Follow him!" Elsa ordered at me in which I nodded and took chase to catch up with Maximus up the stairs and into upper reaches of the castle.

Despite the stairs up from the servant's quarters might've not been built with horses in mind, it was astonishing that Maximus managed it like the grace of a dancer, and it was then I was starting to realise that Maximus was more than just any old horse. As I followed him into one of the corridors, there was many surprised looks from staff at the sight of some horse sniffing and scanning round looking for clues and I ignored any questions from them asking me what was going on as I was hoping to keep up with Maximus.

For the next few minutes, up and down several corridors he went acting like a deranged homing pigeon with his eyes showing absolute concentration, until then we all heard a grunt from one such corridor and Maximus sniffed the air and stopped dead. His nuzzle broke into a triumph smirk and bolted off round the corridor with such speed that I didn't even noticed that he was gone.

"God, I need to work out more," I groaned and chased after Maximus down the corridor. Then I heard shouting and the cry of a neigh in which seemed to indicate that Maximus had found something.

Then as I ran around the corner, Maximus pounced forward on two individuals dressed in all black and with the force of his front hooves, he sent them crashing to the ground along with their respected bags of loot which soon scattered across the floor.

I couldn't believe it; this damn horse had done it! The criminals were groaning in pain having hit the wooden floorboards with such a force and it seemed more painful for them as Maximus had his two forehooves pressed down on the two scoundrels making sure they wouldn't get away so easily.

"Oh! Uh…well done, Maximus," I stuttered in admiration as Maximus neighed happily that he had proven his worth to us. Not a bad thing that he had joined Eugene and Rapunzel on this trip after all.

There was nobody else there in that corridor but us, though it wouldn't be too long until everyone else would join us and I took the opportunity to look down the criminals. As I said before they were dressed in all black and were both young males not much older than me with one being a redhead and the other a brunette. They also wore bandit type masks which covered their mouths yet as they looked up at me I could see that they knew the game was up and that there was no way out, not including the fact they were being pinned down by a crazy stallion.

"Oh God, the Dahl brothers are gonna kill us for this!" The brunette lamented angrily.

"After all those great raids, in the end, we get beaten by a damn _horse_!" The blonde added with a groan.

At least now I knew that these were the two responsible for Arendelle's recent crime wave, yet the news they were connected to the dreaded Dahl brothers sent a shiver up my mind and the sight of Kai's horrendous injury only brought back bad memories of that infamous New Years night. I didn't seem to know how long time went past as I spent most of the time taking it all in when suddenly heard voices coming from behind.

"Maximus?" Eugene called out as I heard his voice getting closer before then he rounded the corner to see us. "Are you guys all…wow…"

"Wow indeed," I added. "That bloody horse of yours is truly somethin' else. Where can ye find more like him?"

The prince didn't get the chance to say anything as Rapunzel, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and several guards all found us and like me before couldn't believe that the criminals had been halted by Maximus.

"Who are these guys?" Kristoff asked.

"Don't know exactly but I believe these are the guys responsible for what's happened and across Arendelle," I confirmed.

The look on Elsa's face though was a picture, for someone who welded strange ice magic, made a living snowman and had a potential brother-in-law that could talk to reindeers, even the sight of a stallion catching thieves easy as that was a new one on her. She leaned over towards Rapunzel and muttered, "I can see why he is something special."

Two guards walked other and handcuffed the two crooks though I did have to hold back a giggle when the guards didn't even seem to batter an eyelash at Maximus and the stallion wasn't pleased that he wasn't getting any attention for his actions and glared at them in disgust.

 _Note to self, always give thanks to animals no matter how smart they are._

With all this going on, I hadn't noticed the amount of belongings that once had been in the loot bags were now all scattered all over the floor in which many were belongings from staff members, but I had my eye on once such item and I made a beeline over to collect it. My money pouch.

I was thankful as I roughly weighed it that nothing seemed to be lost. "Thank God my bonus is safe again," I said to myself thinking no one heard it.

"What _bonus_?" Elsa suddenly called out and as I looked over at the Queen, many eyes were on me, all except Anna who looked away sheepishly biting her bottom lip and fiddled around with one of her braids.

It became clear that the silly princess had forgotten to tell her sister about this gift and that any secret deals with money without any notice of the Queen would land me in hot water. "Uh…well…" I quickly pointed to Anna. "She did it, ask her!"

And I ran out of the way and down the servant's quarters before anyone could react to what I had just said. Anna would have to tell her sister what this all about, but it would prove not to matter in the end as not only as a dangerous raid in the castle been halted, so too would Arendelle's crimewave would go down almost overnight…and it was all thanks to that horse, Maximus. Nothing like a good breaking and entering story, eh?

* * *

 **There we go, Maximus shows what he can do! To me, Maximus stole the show in that film and I've always wanted to try my hand at doing something with him. Anyway until then, catch you round for the next update, we are nearly there with the story...**


	12. Unexpected News

**Finally it returns and it has been a rather hectic couple of weeks for me too. My car was damaged and I had to get it repaired plus that work is approaching it's busy season for me and it is no surprise why any chapters have been delayed because of it. Another problem was that I had to rewrite this chapter as the first version was rather tedious, long and didn't seem to work. I have been thinking that after the disappointment of the last chapter, I think it would be suitable if future chapters are not so long and that might be the way forward.**

 **So without further ado, Aiden is in for a shock!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Unexpected News**

To say that the break in of Arendelle castle was the big story that everyone wanted to talk about was a massive understatement. No one had every experience such a thing and the amount of theories about who these criminals were I could go on all day about. The only thing we knew about them was that they were working with the Dahl brothers, my own theory for who the thieves were that they were just mere normal people who had been roped in to do this task; poor bastards.

Speaking of which, after finding out that the Dahl brothers were behind it, Elsa ordered her troops to find the Dahl brothers and bring them to justice though despite a long search around Arendelle, no trace of them could be found and many felt that they had fled the country once they found out the break in had failed and that they knew that the net was closing in on them.

On the plus side though, Alrik, if you remember that waste of space of a man, was arrested not so long after. He would see trial but oddly it had nothing to do with the break in, but rather, an unrelated case of an embezzlement scandal in which he had ripped off many people and if you know how many he had ripped off over the years including me and my Dad, this was a wonderful moment of karma _finally_ getting to him. While he admitted he had no idea where his brothers had got to, most though who had suffered by him were nonetheless happy that he was facing justice and my Dad especially delighted by this and hoped that they'd throw away the key for him. Bit dark that but just shows you how my old man felt.

Anyway regarding about the visit of Eugene and Rapunzel who, while in the middle of all that break in, did go on to have a good trip and made many important trade deals between Arendelle and Corona and hoped for to return soon, though shortly after they left we would see the return of a now married Ivar returning from his honeymoon and who'd been unaware of the drama that had gone on.

("What'd you mean my room was broken into?!" He had said when we told him.)

Kai, who had been injured in all this did thankfully make a full recovery though he was quite shaken by the whole experience. Apart from all that though as we neared the end of April, things were back to normal, well, as normal as things can be in Arendelle but you learn just to roll with it and it was here I was getting the chance to have time off work.

While it is true that us servants have to be there whenever the Queen or Princess of Arendelle needs it, we had been getting quite an influx of new members of royal staff which did lead to something of an overstaffing situation and it was decided, after the two sisters had a little brainstorming session, that there would be a rotary shift of staff which meant roles could be changed about whenever someone was off and this would allow us staff to get time off work to spend with our families (something that both sisters felt was important following their own saga regarding those dark years of separation) and help keep things fresh all year round.

At this point I would be filled in by one of the new servants helping in castle and I would get the chance to catch up with Dad and Olga and after a long time not seeing them since New Year I was a little bit hesitant of seeing them after so long. They arrange me to meet up with them at this nearby Inn one lunchtime when I was off work and even though I had not seen them in a few months, they looked strangely different when I found them sitting at their table chatting about something.

Olga looked the same as I remember her but her hair was tied into a bun and I didn't know why but for some reason she looked tired with the bags under her eyes indicating just that and also she was wearing a long cloak covering her figure for some reason. Dad though looked quite different from the last time I'd seen him as he had a few grey hairs now starting to show through his brown hair and beard and even a few wrinkles were beginning to show. How on earth had he changed in such a short little time?

"Dad? Olga?" I called out to them and when they saw me their faces lit.

"Aiden my laddie!" Dad replied happily and pulled me into a hug when I walked over to them. "By lord ye havnae changed much since I last saw ye!"

"Guess I take good care of myself," I chuckled before realising Dad from my embrace and giving Olga a hug too. "Hi again, Olga. How's things with me no' there?"

"As well as we always can do," Olga replied jokingly before then she very briefly flashed a nervous look over to Dad. Something was up.

As I sat down to join them, a young waitress came over to take our orders in which my Dad offered to pay the meals for us which was odd because he had always taught me to do things for myself like paying for my own stuff so to see him do that was a little strange of him. Though while me and Dad ordered ales, what was odder was that Olga only asked for water which was not like her as she liked to have a good drink like the rest of us.

After the waitress left, we sat in silence with neither of us knowing what to say, though I felt tempted to ask Olga about why she didn't want any alcoholic beverage but quickly decided against it in case it was a sore subject. Thus, I decided to speak with Dad. " _So_ …what's up then old man?"

"I'm no' _that_ auld ye wee prick," Dad grumbled narrowing his eyes at me.

"Grey then," I pointed out with a cheeky grin.

"Hey! That disnae mean I'm auld!" Dad retorted. "Me and Olga are middle age, _not_ **auld**!"

I chuckled and raised my hands up defensively. "Relax, Dad. I'm only joshin' ye."

"But that all being said, me and your father have important news to tell you," Olga added, and I could see Dad grabbing Olga's hand tightly.

"Is…it is bad?"

"No, Aiden…well, more of a surprise than anything," Olga replied sheepishly. She then drew in intake of breath before saying anything else. "Aiden…I'm pregnant."

Even though the Inn had noise all around me, I felt everything going dead silent as her words sank into me. Did I hear that right? Was she…no, surely not, right?

"I…what…?"

"I know this is rather hard to take in," Olga admitted. "But…yes, it's the truth."

I couldn't say anything as I was that stunned and even if I had anything to say in that moment I didn't get the chance to as the waitress returned with our drinks in which I grabbed my ale and drank down a fair bit of it without realising it. "Um…Dad, Olga…how'd this happen?"

Dad rolled his eyes. "For God's sake laddie how auld are ye?"

 _Now he accuses_ me _of age…_

"No Dad, I know about the birds and the bees, nutjob. I mean…when did ye two, ye know…"

I shuddered, the thought of your Dad and stepmother having it on is something I don't wish on any of my enemies. Luckily Olga could see what I was trying to say, and she began explaining things to me. She then then pulled her cloak of her and revealed a small barely recognisable baby bump and that did seem to make sense why she was wearing that cloak in the first place.

"Aiden. I'm two months pregnant and it all, well, happened on New Year's Day."

"Aye, sort of my fault," Dad chuckled. "Remember son how I was utterly plastered?"

"How can _anyone_ forget?" I muttered remembering my Dad's nonsense that evening being nearly drunk as hell in front of the royal sisters. How Elsa never thought of locking my Dad away how the way he acted then I'll never know; I hadn't even asked Elsa since then if she remembered it.

I was reflected for a while until I realised, I had said anything and quickly got back to the chat. "But yeah…how did this all happen?"

Dad then smiled. "Thing is laddie, Olga felt angry about how I was and, well…"

He looked rather troubled by the memory and I hadn't even thought about what had gone with them that evening after they left, then again, I was being beaten to a bloody pulp by the Dahl brothers during that time so there was that. Still, I was feeling worried in all of this about this news.

"Your farther wanted to apologise," Olga interrupted. "He did feel bad about what he did wanted to make it up for me."

My Dad then had a gleam in his eyes. "Aye, by takin' her up tae bed and—"

"Dad _please_ …I don't want tae hear about yer bedtime adventures."

 _Christ, what a dreadful thought of them going at it…_

Olga then butted in again. "We did let our emotions get the better of us and, well, one thing leads to another and…here we are."

It did take a bit of time for this all to sink in. Olga was pregnant, my stepmother, and that meant I was going to have a little brother or sister. I should've been happy for them, yet something didn't feel right.

"Ye ok, son?" Dad asked.

"Well, not really," I admitted. "I mean, sorry to say this again but are ye…well, old?"

My Dad groaned and Olga had to hold back a chuckle. "For God Sake! What is it with ye and age? I'm no' that auld and neither is Olga."

I did have a reason to be uncertain about Olga expecting a child, most couples that have children you think are normally in their twenties, Olga had just turned thirty nine so she was a little bit old to have a child but not that bad I suppose. Dad on the other hand was fifty-six, old enough to be the kid's granddad for heaven's sake!

"I'll admit we didn't plan for this," Olga replied now rubbing her barely recognisable baby bump. "That all being said for years me and your farther have been trying to have a child for years and had no luck. Now though it seems our wish has become true, though later than expected."

I was left silent and reflected on their announcement and what it might mean for me. From the time they were first married I had been vaguely aware even then that Olga and Dad had always wanted to have children but for whatever reason they always couldn't seem to manage. I didn't know if it meant that they were either busy with work or maybe something else, nonetheless they raised and taught me well though I will admit that I did wonder what if I had a little brother or sister many times. As I grew up, I eventually accepted the life of being an 'only child'.

The more I thought about it, it just seemed rather unsettling strangely enough and my parents could see that I didn't look that all comfortable with it.

"Aiden, I can see that this troubles you," Olga noted. "But please…don't think of this as like replacing you or something."

"Oh naw, Olga," I replied showing a weak smile. "I'm not staying with ye guys anyway, so it doesn't affect me as such. Ye two should be happy, _I'm_ happy for ye two, truly. I know you've always wanted kids and…here we are then I guess."

My voice croaked as I finished saying that. I didn't want to feel upset for their sake nor mine, yet I really needed time alone to think about it and maybe then I'd accept it. Though I didn't want to leave not because it would seem rude to them or that I was deeply upset by this but that at that very moment the waitress returned with our meals and after Dad had the three of us celebrate a toast for a new Fergusson soon to be in the family.

I did cheer up a bit as dinner progressed though mostly thanks to my Dad's excited attitude. There he was gushing over with Olga over what the baby would be like, names and the best way to raise the kid, suppose after all these years of wanting to have another kid he was so delighted by it and you couldn't help but feel happy for him that his wish had come true.

Olga too was happy though she was being the more rational minded of the two and was more interested in long term plans than some of the more fanciful stuff my Dad was raving about and I wouldn't had been surprised if my Dad had climbed up to the roof of the Inn and yelled out across Arendelle about the news. Wonder if age did that to a man?

We were in there for about an hour until we finished our meals and prepared to leave. I gave Olga my farewells and a long hug before turning to my Dad who pulled me closed in perhaps the most unmanliest hug you could picture. He held me close for goodness knows how long for before facing me with moist eyes.

"Dad, are ye alright?"

"Aye son, I'm just _so_ happy," he croaked. "Son, I want ye to know that I know yer no' longer livin' wi' me and Olga and that there's another wee bairn on the way…but ye'll always be my wee boy no matter what."

I sighed and pulled him close for another embrace. "Thanks Dad…I'll promise to be the best older brother I can possibly be."

After a few more farewells for them, we went our separate ways and I headed back to the castle though now I had some time alone I stopped by a railing overlooking the fjord, leaned on it and began to speculate what the future might bring for our little family. Me, soon to be no longer an only child but an older brother. As much as I wanted to laugh at the strange turn of events, I still couldn't shake off the fact that my parents were going to be quite old when this kid's birth was due. Ok there was the term 'better late than never' yet it all seemed so strange and I hadn't even gotten to the part as to where I fitted in to all this. Was I going to have to take time off work in order to babysit the kid or would I even be needed?

I don't know how long I leaned on that railing for, five minutes? Ten minutes? An hour? But once I decided to carry on my walk back to the castle, I knew then I had to ask someone for advice. Oh Lord, I knew the other staff members wouldn't let me hear the end of it wherever it was good or bad. Either way they were all bound to find out sooner or later, but I didn't want to tell everyone at once about the news though I needed to at least find someone to tell to get it off my mind, but who?

My first thought was Kai, but it just so happened that today was one of his rare days off work and I didn't know where he had ended up. I thought about Kristoff who, other than his strange reindeer translation act, seemed very level headed to talk about such a situation, though much like Kai he was out of the castle and was up in the mountains doing his ice harvesting work and wouldn't be back until later this week.

Would Ivar be one to talk too? He was busy with married life and was possibly stressing out about becoming a father so the last thing he might've needed was me asking for advice on what to do.

So, then my mind landed on asking a certain snowman for advice…

…On second thoughts, no.

As I entered the castle courtyard with my hands in my pockets, I didn't really know who to turn to that might give me some support. Who else was an older sibling to someone that I knew…?

Then the penny drop as it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course, _Elsa_! How the hell hadn't I thought of that sooner? My walk suddenly broke into a jog as I hurried into the castle to find the Queen. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. No, it wasn't worth to ask Elsa such a stupid question.

When the most a commoner requested an audience with the Queen was more about pressing matters such as taxes, work environments, trade and the living conditions of the people. How many did you that asked a Queen for advice over the fact that you were going to be an older brother?

Honestly, it didn't really seem that important in the grand scheme of things and I would be wasting my and her time about it. I then headed over towards a brick wall and sat on to try and clear by head and it felt like my mind was going in eight different directions over what was to happen now. Looking up towards the mountains surrounding the castle and began muttering to myself.

"God, what the hell do I do now? Will Olga or the baby be safe at birth?"

I probably would tell others in time, but right now all I was needing was time to think it through and although I was thankful it was my day off, I didn't know if I'd be ready for tomorrow.

 _Bloody hell what's wrong with me? I'm acting like_ I'm _the expecting farther!_

While life would seemingly go on as normal in Arendelle…well as normal as it can be, an uncertain future awaited me and my family.

* * *

 **Oh boy, Aiden will be an older brother...or will he? Stay tuned for the next update whenever that may be...**


	13. Uninvited Guests

**The return of Aiden once again! Been busy of late of the fact that I have moved into my new flat with my partner and all the various things to include so I have been a bit delayed to get this one up. Plus also this was going to be much longer but decided to split it into as I feel it might be better that way, plus writing the longer chapters can be a right slog to do so.**

 **Anyway hope you enjoy as we will see a suitor for Elsa...or someone you'll love to hate...**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 **Uninvited Guests**

When May came around, I had by this point finally accepted the fact that I was to be no longer an only child and that life in my family wasn't going to be the same again. For the first few days afterwards, I didn't tell any of the other members of royal staff, let alone the two royal sisters, about this news as I was unsure how to bring up this story to anyone. The first person I would tell in private about this was Ivar which might've not been the best person to ask considering his own little misadventures he had had with a woman on a similar matter…

Nonetheless he did seem happy for this and wished me all the best and pointed out to me the benefits of being an older brother which I didn't really think about at the time. Next I would tell Kristoff the news and he congratulated my parents over this announcement, though oddly afterwards he would ask me where I can find a good place in Arendelle to buy a ring…

I then told Kai who was surprised like the others but happy nonetheless and the plan for me was to tell each of the other staff members individually as I felt more comfortable that way, though I would make the mistake of who I was to tell the news next. Olaf. You can perhaps get an idea of what happened next.

While he may have not meant to harm anyone, he did have the tendency to get very excited very easily whenever he heard such important news and no sooner after I told the little snowman about what was going on, he would by the end of the day spread the news round the castle like wildfire and I'm sure if given the chance, tell the whole of Arendelle too. I was left annoyed that my original plan to tell everyone individually had all but gone out of the window, still it was nice to hear everyone sending me their best wishes for my expected parents.

I do wish though that was the only matter I had to deal with that month but the world doesn't revolve around me but others and May would be quite an eventful time in Arendelle as it was that time of year in which Elsa had to face up with perhaps the thing she had been wishing to avoid for a while now. Suitors.

 **XXX**

It was cool and cloudy day in Arendelle and while that may have been a comfortable temperature for many, the gloomy looking weather seemed to fittingly represent of how Elsa was feeling about the visit of this one such suitor coming to Arendelle, Prince Leopold of Saxony. If I was to be honest about how I felt about the arrival of this royal coming to Arendelle, I was rather cautious about this individual from the start as when it came to Suitors, Elsa had pretty much no time for it despite what her council might've said and she would turn down any offer for any determined individual wanting to court her.

Truth is that despite what you might think, Elsa wasn't against the idea of being in a relationship and according to what Anna had mentioned to me that Elsa was open to the idea of a relationship and would only do it if it was for love, not for some phoney political alliance or that these boneheaded suitors saw her as nothing more as either a way of getting power or seeing her as a mere trophy wife.

Nothing wrong with her mindset on that as for now she was more focused on the important business of running her kingdom. So, when Leopold wrote asking to court her, she would decline his offer like many others and that would've seemed to be the end of that. Some idiots though just won't take 'no' for an answer and you can imagine all our reaction when her heard that even if Elsa liked it or not, he was arriving later on in May to attempt a hopeless endeavour to aske for Elsa's hand that our Queen had no time for.

Despite the fact that Elsa and Anna didn't want this uninvited guest in their castle, they had little choice if they didn't then he would likely make the situation worse for them and now we had to serve him too. If only that was the only thing we had to contend with…

 **XXX**

"Have you seen the prince yet?" asked Lillian, one of our maids, said to me as we sat in the servant's breakroom chatting about the day's events.

"I haven't actually," I replied as a chewed on my sandwich. "Heard a rumour that he's brought his sister along too, what's her name again? Addison…Alisson is it?

"Alexa," Lillian snorted and shook her head. "God damn it I hope he pisses off soon and God forbid he turns out to be our next king and that bitch of a sister of his is no different! Don't know why she's here unless she came to piss everyone off for the hell of it."

"Huh? What have they done?"

"Where do I begin? Rude, arrogant and treats staff here like shit. According to what I've heard at least."

I was left stunned at Lilian's outburst. "Seriously? They both can't be that bad, right?"

"Oh, you don't know _anything_ ," Lillian replied dryly. "Kai has met them, and he told me that Leopold can be charismatic, but like that Prince Hans he can be vile person underneath. And Alexa…I've already seen her once when they arrived and boy, she is a queen bitch. Come to think of it, she's _worse_ than your friend the Countess!"

"Bloody Countess again," I muttered. I had heard quite enough of hearing that damn story repeatedly, but then for some reason her words sunk in. "Wait, ye mean he, no, the both of them are _worse_? How so?"

"Probably better if you experience him in the flesh. Good luck I'd say, Aiden. You'll possibly need it…unless you can take them down like the Countess."

 _What am I? A royal slayer or something?_

Our break soon came to an end and we would get back to our respected jobs, though whenever I worked alongside another member of staff, the only thing they would talk about was Prince Leopold and for those who had interacted with him, neither of them had anything good to say about him other than hoping Elsa would send them packing and that Anna would turn Leopold into a punchline like what she did was Hans, if you get my joke…

Nonetheless it would only be a matter of time until I would finally have to chance to see this fellow for the first time and that time would be later in the day. It was about half past nine in the evening in which Elsa had gone for an early sleep after a long day while Anna was out in the town with Kristoff doing whatever they liked to do and I was walking corridor where the library was nearby heading for my room as my shift for the day was over. As I was thinking about a pleasant night's sleep, I saw Lilian again on the other end of the corridor carrying a tray of food and drink and the first thing I noticed that she didn't look happy at all in the slightest.

"Ye alright, Lily? Ye know the Queen's bedroom is back that way?" I asked while pointing behind her.

Her amber coloured eyes gave me a fearsome stare if I had offended her or something. "It's not for her, it's for _them_ , Leopold and Alexa, aka, shitface one and shitface two, who both happen to be in _there_!" She motioned her head over at the library.

"Have they done somethin' bad tae ye?"

Lilian stopped in her tracks to look up at me and her previously angry eyes suddenly became rather tearful. "Oh God…I only saw him and her for less than a minute earlier today to give them lunch and then…"

I remained quiet and felt awful for asking her about the matter. "Sorry I ask—"

"No, no, please, not your fault for asking," Lilian croaked and paused for a moment to regain her composure. "Ok…what happened was that I went in to give him his meal and throughout the time I was in there, he seemed to eye me up and I stumbled a bit nearly dropping the food on the ground and then…he called me a stupid and clumsy maid that wasn't worth being wife material according to that bastard."

"All for a stumble? That's pretty bloody harsh."

"But…that wasn't the worse of it." Lilian added, her head drooping sadly. "After I apologised to him and left the room, I then noticed him eyeing me up again and th…then…Alexa suddenly spoke up and called me chubby and that I should lose weight…they both laughed so m…."

Lilian's face crumbled; if it wasn't for the tray she was holding I would've stepped in to embrace her into a tight hug. Then I felt a wave of rage grip me; how dare they call her fat and let me tell that Lilian was anything but that. She had slender built not much different to that of Elsa and Anna and with her long raven black hair she had tied into a ponytail, she was anything but chubby as what that prince and princess might've thought though she was very self-conscious about her figure and no matter what you might've said to compliment her that was beautiful, she would still be worried and whenever someone like those to said something to mock her she would get into an awful state like now.

I would be lying too if I said I wasn't attracted to Lily in that way but there was no time to think of that for I had to do something seeing as she didn't want to see them again.

"Lily," I muttered while placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take it in for ye."

She looked at me with her glazed eyes. "What? Y…you mean that?"

"Might as well help a friend. I have nothin' else to do tonight and it's perhaps best ye get to bed, alright lass?"

We were both silent and Lilian's eyes were wide after she thought about my offer. Then relief washed over her face and then burst out sobbing at which at that point in her emotional state didn't noticed that she was about to drop the tray in which I rapidly grabbed it off her, though I felt bad seeing her like this.

"Are ye alright? Didnae mean to get ye upset."

"No, you didn't," Lilian replied rubbing away some tears. "I'm just so…happy. Happy that I don't have to see them now, well, unless I must see them again somehow. Thank you so much, Aiden."

I felt myself blushed. "Anythin' to help a friend."

The maid then focused her gaze on the entrance to the library down the corridor and we could hear laughter emitting from it, laughter that even from that sounded snooty for some strange reason. "You…you don't think she will?" Lilian questioned me.

"Do what?"

"Elsa…M…marrying him…?"

I shook my head. "Fat chance, Lily. Sounds like he and that sister of his have pretty much overstayed their welcome here. Besides, Elsa knows that he's not worthy for him and will have him gone from Arendelle before ye know it, so she'll know what to do."

We didn't say anything as we seemed to ponder what might happen until I remembered the tray I was holding. "Ok Lily, ye get back to bed and I'll deal with that lot, ok?"

"Thanks again Aiden, good luck and goodnight." She replied and gave me sideways hug due to me holding the tray and she hurried off back to the servant's quarters for the night. I hoped she'd be ok after everything that had happened.

I then turned to look at the doorway to where the library was and headed towards it not knowing who I was to encounter and with all that I heard about them, it all didn't fill me with confidence.

As I walked in, I then only just noticed what was on the tray in what seemed to be two plates of what I can only describe as some form of well-cooked fish and there were two glasses of champagne to accommodate them. How they were able to fit all of that on this rather small tray was a mystery, but then again, I had no time to ponder on such thoughts as I heard the laughter again as I entered the library.

Looking around the large room I then saw the prince and princess sitting near the fireplace with two glasses of champagne they had nearly drank empty and judging by their obnoxious laughter they shared over some joke Leopold said, they had clearly had one drink to many. I didn't want to know how many they'd had so far or if I should not give them the champagne I had on the tray.

"You boy! Hurry up!" ordered Leopold and I quickly made my way over to hand them over the tray on the small table next to them and their eyes lit up.

" _Finally_ , about time!" Alexa cried before downing her current drink and without giving me any thanks or even acknowledging I was there, she went for the drink on the tray and began to down that too.

 _A princess who is a raging alcoholic…oh, great…_

I now had my first view of Prince Leopold and Princess Alexa. Leopold was quite a well-built, handsome looking man, looking like he was aged somewhere in his mid-thirties, tanned skin and a neat looking set of thick dark brown hair. He was well dressed like any prince and displayed a row of medals on his chest for whatever he had achieved in his life, though even from this first encounter he gave of a sense of aloofness that can only be found in the worse of visiting nobility you'd bound to meet whenever they came to Arendelle.

Alexa like her brother had hazel eyes, looked to be of a similar age to Leopold, tanned sking and dark brown hair that was tied up into a bun and there was nothing to doubt you that with their similar looks that they were related.

"Boy, could you please give my deepest displeasure for the kitchen staff," Leopold stated looking at me with those hazel eyes that could see into your soul.

"…I'm sorry what?" I stuttered not expecting such a response.

"Are you awake?" Leopold scoffed with his voice oozing with a cruel patronising tone. "I said for you to give my deepest displeasure for the kitchen staff for how slow the service is round here. Such amenity is highly unsuitable working for royalty."

"Good heavens, this fish is cold!" Alexa moaned as she took a bite out of her meal.

Leopold took a bite out of his fish and like her sister saw his face scrunch up and groaned before spitting it back on the plate. "For heaven's sake boy could've you've been quicker?! I've heard of the Queen having ice powers and all but the fact that the food is cold is ludicrous! Such sloppiness will never do in any Kingdom and I'm afraid to say that first impressions of this land are sadly very much _undesirable_."

"Are you sure this is even the right Kingdom?" Alexa questioned her brother. "I was hoping for better."

"Sadly it is," Leopold answered back. "Then again little sister this is what happens when you have a woman running a Kingdom on her own, hopefully many of these problems can be resolved when the Snow Queen comes to her senses and agrees to court me and a man can show her the errors of her ways."

I had only known these two for less than a minute and yet in that time I had quickly come to loath them as I felt my fists cliched. How dare they say that about our Queen and his sexist comments about her, but what made it more shocking is that Alexa didn't seem all that bothered about his misogynistic views and instead drank her champagne nonchalantly.

Lilian was wrong about these two, they weren't as bad as what she mentioned…they were worse.

"The drink is at least presentable," Alexa offered dryly. "Heaven's sake I'm starving!"

"Now look here," Leopold said glaring at me. "I want you while down in the kitchen to not only pass our comments about the current meal we've been supplied, but also a proper meal that is not cold, you got that, boy?"

I was doing all I can to hold everything I could to not beat the bad-mannered prince up. "Y... yes your highnesses, but—"

"But _what_?" Leopold snapped in that snide tone.

"I'm unsure if they'll be anyone still there at this time…most of the kitchen staff will have gone off for the night and yer meals would've been the last thing they would've made. Um…sorry about that…"

The foreign royals looked appalled.

"Absurd!" Leopold cried out. "I cannot believe that this Queen's disordered attitude has passed down to you servants. If are you aware dear boy that all royal staff must be alert at all times, especially the kitchen staff who I would've thought who would've know better but appears that I've been proven wrong yet again. That foolish woman of a Queen of yours has made a rather hash job of running this kingdom."

"Like with everything else we've seen," Alexa snorted. "And speaking of which Leo, did you hear about that oath of a man that the crown princess is courting? _Outrageous_!"

"Indeed, dear sister, but fear not. Once I'm king of this land, that man will be the first to go and many of these useless individuals that the Queen has employed as her so called servants will be next out of this castle."

"Like you bloody will," I muttered very quietly to myself. It was one thing that didn't hold Kristoff nor the rest of us staff in high regard was one thing, yet the fact they had the nerve to say all of this right in front of me pretty much demonstrated the utter contempt they had for anyone that wasn't of royal blood. My mind became a wave of thoughts of horrible scenarios of what to do if the worst was to happen to Arendelle. We already had one attempted coup by some backstabbing prince, we didn't want another one with this being one who was out to marry Elsa come hell or high water to become king. I was in my thoughts so much that I didn't hear the prince saying something to me.

"Did you hear me?" Leopold asked.

"Huh?"

"I said hurry up and take this food away and get us a replacement meal."

"But the—"

"I don't care where the staff are! I want a proper meal that is piping hot within the next half hour or else, you understand servant?"

"I…yes, yes I will…terribly sorry about all this and I will do that your highnesses." I sighed and picked up the plate with the food still on it. But as I was about to leave the library, that stupid prince wasn't done yet with me.

"If your serious about working here dear chum you're going to have to revise your behaviour to the job that's my tip from me. That's unless you plan to resign in which by my first impressions of you would be no real loss for Arendelle that's for sure."

On the outside I may have looked calm and neutral, but on the inside, I was burning with hatred for everything he had said. Oh, how I would've wished I could've chucked them into the fjord, though doing so would likely cause a war between their Kingdom and Arendelle. Regardless, I had to do what they said.

"Very well your highnesses, I'll dae what I must." I answered them before nodding and heading out of the library with my grip of the tray tightening as my anger was threatening to boil over and it was nothing short of a relief when I managed to get out of the library and breath a long sigh of not having to last another second with them.

But then I heard a commotion from the library in which sounded like an argument and even though I didn't want to see them again, I was strangely curious about what was going on and quietly I peered my head from the doorframe and looked over to where the siblings where sited at.

"For God's sake Leo stop messing with it!" Alexa scowled him with her gaze looking up towards his nice set of hair, though I was shocked about what I saw next.

"The damn thing won't stay properly!" Leopold moaned as his hands messed with his fine looking brown hair which to my shock turned out to be nothing more than a wig! First the Duke of Weselton, then Alrik and now this guy! Surely, they all couldn't have gotten all their wigs from the same place?

I had to quickly get away from there I had the urge to burst out laughing at the Prince's little secret. But as I walked further away down the corridor my thoughts quickly turned to dread; Elsa would never marry such a rude and horrible man like Prince Leopold, right? What was it about Arendelle that seemed to attract some of the rudest and vilest members of nobility to these shores? I didn't know as I was too tired to think about it and would've want to get to bed, but now I had found myself in the situation of finding the kitchen staff to tell them the situation at hand. It was going to be a long night and I hoped they those two would be out of Arendelle…

Wishful thinking on my part.

* * *

 **Oh dear...what a ungrateful pair how turned up to cause trouble! What will happen next and will they get their comeuppance? Find out next time...**


	14. Another One Bites The Dust

**...Wait, it's back? Yes, it's finally back! First thing to say is that I'm so sorry it took long to get it updated due to a combination of work, housing stuff and final a very bad dose of writer's block. Also I have been feeling rather down about this story as I know it get bogs down by most over Frozen fanfics on the site which I can understand given how the story is mainly a slice of life type fic which maybe not be one that many will like. However I do get this lingering feeling that I'm wasting my time doing this which I hope I'm just being paranoid here, still only a few more chapters to go and we're near the end.**

 **Anyway, without wasting your time, here we go again...**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **Another One Bites The Dust**

In the short time I had been working for Arendelle's royal family I'd never thought I'd meet a person I hated more than the Countess, that was until Prince Leopold and his good for nothing sister arrived. We all hoped that he would give up in his pursuit of trying to win Elsa's hand in marriage and never return, but sadly he was not only the most horrible man I'd ever met but also the most stubborn as he was determined to stay as long as possible until Elsa finally accepted him which by the looks of things would've seemed like _forever_.

You are perhaps wondering why couldn't have Elsa simply said that enough was enough and have him forced away back to where he and his sister came from? It would seem like a no brainer I'd agree, yet there was one major problem with that. Leopold had a lot of influence from where he came from and that if such a scheme like that had happened, God knows what he could do to Arendelle; invasion, enslavement or worse, disposing of Elsa and Anna? Because of this, Elsa had her hands tried that there was nothing she could do to get rid of the pair and the best thing that she and everyone else in the castle could do was try to be hospitable as possible and simply hope that Leopold would eventually give up and go home. Or that he'd embarrass himself and leave in disgrace. Though as I said before, easy said than done.

Just what could've been done to get rid of that bastard?

It was now going into the first day of June and though he had been here for not that long, he and his sister had made all of us castle staff despise them. There wasn't a day that went by when you heard one poor servant or maid getting horrible verbal abuse, sometimes getting so bad that one could be reduced to tears, or that Elsa and Anna made very subtle gestures to us staff members that they shared our anger over the guy.

Even Elsa's council who had brought up the whole suitor thing for the Queen were now starting to think that maybe this wasn't a good idea. For some like myself, I simply had to keep my head down and get one with my job. Though the first day of June would be one I'd remember for a long time.

 **XXX**

I was at the stables giving Sven a wash as he and Kristoff had just returned from another Ice Harvesting trip and from the smell both had on their return pretty much told you that they were overdue for a wash, though if you know Kristoff, he had yet to clean himself.

"Enjoyed yerself?" I asked Kristoff as I placed more soap suds around Sven's fur.

"Good start for the year," Kristoff replied as he knelt on his knee giving Sven's hooves a clean-up. "We've collected enough ice to last us until the end of the month. Did I miss much?"

I snorted a forced laughter. "Bloody hell, ye wouldn't want to be here over the last few days."

"You mean Prince Leopold and Princess Alexa?"

"Who else? My God, they think they own the damn place and if I hear that stupid cow known as Alexa asking for more white wine, I feel tempted to smash the bottle over her bloody head!"

Kristoff winced. "Really? Have they said anything to you?"

"Think the answer is they have said somethin' about _all_ the staff 'ere," I answered. "No doubt they have somethin' to say about ye if they meet ya."

Our talk was halted as I felt a mad itch on my arm as I cleaned Sven. "Ow, bastard!"

Kristoff and Sven starred at me. "You ok?" The ice harvester asked.

"Don't know, have I caught an infection or somethin'?" I muttered as I scratched by arm. "Think it was somethin' from Sven…wait."

Kristoff and I now looked at the reindeer who gave us a sorry look and then something occurred to the ice harvester. "Um, we're going to need to get a thick brush for Sven."

"How'd ye mean?"

"F…Fleas," Kristoff grimaced. "He must've gotten them when we…ow!"

Kristoff began to itch himself and it must've been quite a scene for anyone walking into the stables seeing this two men trying to get these damn fleas off us while poor Sven looked sorry for what he had done, though it wasn't really his fault as it was just an unfortune incident that was bound to happen while out up in the mountains.

Me and Kristoff did get the itching to stop and carried on getting Sven cleaned as best as we could but despite our best efforts it seems that Sven's flea problem wasn't exactly going away just yet as the reindeer tried to scratch himself using his hind hoof like a dog.

"Sorry buddy," Kristoff apologised to Sven. "Looks like you just had bad luck with the fleas this time round."

The poor reindeer let out a low bellow sound which sounded like a groan and it wasn't that hard to feel sorry for Sven as his large eyes drooped. "Has it always been this bad?" I asked.

"Not for as I can remember," Kristoff replied. "Must've caught it somewhere by that very bushy patch in this cutting that was bound to have animals in it one way or the other."

A thought then occurred to me. "Actually, maybe I have one idea that could help us get 'em cleaned and perhaps kill the wee beasties."

"What's that then?"

"Simple, let's take him to the beach and dump him in the ocean. Surely the saltwater might help. Well, at least accordin' to my Dad who swears by it. Then again, he always thinks someday that Scotland will have an empire and rule the world."

Kristoff and Sven shared an uncertain expression in which clearly meant they didn't think my idea was any good, then again I was only trying to help.

" _Who knows, it might work,"_ Kristoff answered in his Sven 'voice', something that by now I didn't think anything of it.

"Can't remember the last time I was down at a beach," Kristoff added. "You coming?"

I shook my head. "Naw laddie, I have work tae do. Besides, better ye get oot of the way if you come across those two idiots stinkin' the castle up…more than ye."

"Hey!"

"Just teasin' ye," I chuckled. "But all seriousness, ye dae what ye have to do and I…I'll think of somethin'."

At that moment, I heard the voice of a certain royal individual who sadly wasn't either Elsa or Anna. "Where is the assistance needed in this _damn_ castle?!"

"It's that darn prince again," I sighed. "Guess that's my cue."

"Good luck, Aiden." Kristoff said and I replied with a mutter of thanks before heading out of the stables and into the courtyard where Prince Leopold and Princess Alexa were standing next to each other looking rather impatient waiting for something, though my gaze fell upon a thick, brown fur coat that Alexa was holding in her hands and my first thoughts for some reason were that it was from a deer.

If so, better to hide it from Sven…

But to get back on topic, as soon as they saw me arrive, the prince immediately got on my back. "You there, servant! Where have you been? I've been trying to find someone to talk to for ages!"

"Is there a problem sir?" I asked.

"Haven't you heard our calls?!"

"Sorry yer highness, I've been in the stables work—"

"Yes, yes whatever," Leopold interrupted me rudely. "I've been trying to find someone to help me to pass a message on for the Queen, apparently she and that sister of hers are busy in a meeting and I've looking everywhere to find a servant to help us out, but no one seems to be here. Honestly how can it be so hard to find _someone_ in this damn castle?"

"I can think of a few things," Alexa added dryly.

Truth was, all of us staff all wanted nothing to do with them and whenever we heard one or both coming, we hid out of sight giving the impression of an empty castle. I know this sounds childish and going against our rules of helping royalty, but could you blame us for acting like this when we had to deal with these two idiots? Privately, Elsa and Anna were aware of our actions but didn't act upon it and they seemed happy to look the other way if it meant that Leopold and Alexa would give up and go home.

Got to love those two sisters.

Sadly, it seemed like today would be the one in which I'd pull the short straw in dealing with them, so I had no choice. "What would ye like me to pass on, yer highnesses?"

Prince Leopold breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Christ at least there is someone here to help us, even if you are a foreign Englishman they hired."

"I'm _Scottish_ ," I corrected him, but he didn't seem to hear me.

"Right then," he began clasping his hands together. "If you can find Queen Elsa, I'd like you pass on a message for her."

"Um, ok…what would ye like me to say, sir?"

"Since we arrived here, I feel that we are overdue with a proper meal with the Queen and seeing as the service in this palace is, at best, _substandard_ , we have invited our own servants to join us. They are arriving on the first voyage to Arendelle this lunchtime."

 _Oh God, more of them._

"Uh…Yer highnesses. Are they well trained?"

Alexa rolled her eyes. "Of course, they are stupid boy, otherwise they wouldn't have been forced to be dragged out here!"

"Just another example how much this kingdom needs change, my dear." Leopold murmured over to Alexa before looking back at me. "You will do that for us?"

"A-Aye sure, I'll try and find them and pass it on for them."

I was dreading the thought about more of their type arriving, all that was missing was everyone else of their family to move in and that would be it. If that was the case, then I would run to the top of the highest building in Arendelle and scream at everyone to run for their lives.

Yer highnesses, is there anythin' ye like me to do?" I added, trying to sound friendly as possible.

"As a matter of fact, there is," Alexa piped up and practically shoved the fur coat into my arms rudely and I was stunned to feel that it was _heavy_. "I would like this coat properly cleansed for the evening ahead."

"And please be careful with it," Leopold added with a sneering tone. "It's not some _rag_ you'd find at a general store around this kingdom. Understand, boy?"

I felt exhausted by just their talking alone, God knows how I could cope if they were to take permeant residence here though to be fair given how long they had been here for, I was getting a feeling that I would not enjoy it.

"Very well, yer highnesses," I muttered darkly though they didn't seem to notice my attitude then.

Leopold then showed that dirty smirk whenever he smiled. "Excellent work, boy. Now if you excuse us, me and my sister have work to do."

 _Work? Bet they haven't worked a damned day in all their lives._

The two of them left me standing there thinking over what they had said and what I was to do in all this. Then I saw by the stable doors Kristoff coming out and seemed to be trying to untangle what look like reins that had somehow ended up like that and I assumed it had something to do with Sven judging by the way Kristoff was cursing under his breath.

I found myself staring at the fur coat and though I had never really thought anything about fur coats other than that it required some animal being shot, I strangely felt bad for whoever the animal might've been for if they only knew it would be worn by such a bitch; those two _were_ animals…

 _Animals_ …

Then an idea came to my head, something that I knew would likely put me into a great deal of trouble if I went for it, yet at the same time it seemed like a cunning plan to finally see those two get their long overdue comeuppance. With a sly grin, I headed over towards Kristoff and Sven and they gave me an odd look, most likely due to the stupid grin I had.

"What's up? They've given you a rise or something?" Kristoff asked.

I chuckled and shook my head. "Naw mate, in fact, I have a cunnin' plan, as in, dealing with those idiots."

I quickly glanced around us making sure they or anyone else was around before we leaned in close for me to tell them my plan. What followed from them was a look of shock, then disbelief before finally Kristoff sniggering like some mischievous schoolboy about to pull of something crazy.

"Oh God…you know if this doesn't work then it might be your head," Kristoff chuckled.

"True, but I guess I make things up as I go along," I replied before glancing at the fur coat I still had. "Ye will do what I ask?"

Kristoff grabbed the coat from my hands and Sven sniffed it before showing a look of horror, by the reindeer's reaction I could only assume that the fur once belonged to an unfortunate reindeer. "Don't worry, Aiden. I'll do it."

I clasped my hands together. "Alright then…now I'll have to tell the sisters what Prince and Princess shit-for-brains want and hopefully they suspect nothin'."

We made our farewells and separate ways as I headed up to Elsa's study to find her and pass on the message for her. As I made my way up and passed any member of staff, you could hear either of them chatting with each other expressing their contempt for Leopold and Alexa, no surprise there.

After making my way through a few corridors, I found the place where Elsa's study was and ass I approached it, the door was half way opened and peering through the gap, I could see Elsa sitting by her desk alongside Anna who both were looking over a document and debating about something. Going off a tangent here but while Elsa seemed to always know what she was doing when it came to royal matters there was always a time when she needed a second opinion on the matter and always the first person she'd ask for help would be Anna and it seemed like now was one of those moments.

"This is what we need to help Arendelle grow," Elsa said to Anna as she pointed out something on the document.

"Wait, _that_?" Anna exclaimed as she saw what Elsa was pointing at. "Who is it for? The Emperor of Russia?"

I didn't know what was going on or how the conversation would unfold, but instead I knocked on the door to get the sisters' attention. "Beg pardon, yer highnesses."

The two of them turned around to look at me and smiled, Anna especially. "Aiden! Thank goodness you're here. I was getting bored here—Err, no offensive, Elsa."

"None taken," Elsa mumbled while giving her little sister a subtle glare before looking back at me. "But yes, Aiden. Is there something you like to say?"

I cleared my throat while trying to think of how to pass this message on to them. "My Queen…I have been told to pass this message on for you about tonight. Dinner this evening that is." The two sisters gave me a blank stare not knowing where I was going with this. "It's…from you-know-who…"

They quickly managed to put two and two together and Elsa rubbed the side of her head while Anna groaned before saying, "why is it always about _him_? What does he want for dinner?"

"Funny ye should say that, but I need tae tell ye that I don't think our kitchen staff might be needed for tonight as apparently their own servants are coming this afternoon," I explained and the stunned looks on their faces really said it all."

Elsa now bore a confused expression. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Aye, about that," I began to explain. "Apparently they say our kitchen staff aren't good enough and they are bringin' their own lot to make the meal tonight. Dinnae ask me how they got in contact with them, other than the fact that they'll be here later today."

The Queen pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She didn't need to say anything to express how she felt as seeing her like that really said it all.

"When will they give up?" Anna groaned. "Is there a way to get rid of them without starting a war?"

For a moment I did serious consider telling them about my little scheme but decided not to as while Anna would likely support it, you can only imagine that Elsa would be against the idea. Then again, would she be up to look the other way?

I was about to speak when suddenly we heard a rumbling sound and Elsa and I looked to Anna in which she looked down at her stomach.

"Ahh, snack time I think," Anna giggled nervously before looking back at her sister. "Sorry Elsa, I'm a bit peckish. Maybe we can finish this later?"

Elsa glanced back at the document and nodded. "Ok then, guess we can do with a break. One more read though of that document would likely drag us round the bend."

I didn't know what they had been looking at but they seemed more than happy to get away from it. Anna hopped and headed towards the door before saying, "I'll be back soon."

No sooner as she had gotten out of the room and into the corridor, I cleared my throat to get her attention. "Umm, yeah…there is one thing I forgot to mention."

"Oh? What is it then?" Anna questioned and I motioned her close to me just in case we might be heard.

"It's about the prince and princess," I explained quietly. "I might have an idea to pull another Countess caper tonight."

I then told her bits of how the plan would go as well as including what Kristoff had to do with it and as I told her all this, Anna's eyes widened and held back her giggles as she immediately knew where I was going with this. "T-This is amazing!"

"Shh! We don't want yer sister to know about this." I hushed her.

"But why? I'm sure she would love it."

"Correction yer highness, ye'd like it but _she_ won't"

"Why?"

"It might lead me getting fired, or worse, a war between Arendelle and their kingdom over just humiliatin' them!"

Despite my warning of the consequences being mentioned, the feisty princess didn't seem to think much of them, and she waved them off as that grin of hers never left her face. "Come on, Aiden! Why would Elsa fire you if you were going to help get rid of them? I'm sure she'd be happy if you did it."

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yer highness, I dinae think ye quite understand—"

"I'm ordering you to do it," Anna interrupted with quite a very un-Anna commanding presence with her face now looking suddenly stern. "As princess of Arendelle, I give you full permission for you to do this."

"But—"

"Ah! If you don't, then I'll report you for not following orders which as you know is against the crown." With a sly wink, Anna skipped off down the corridor leaving me looking confused and unsure just what had happened. Had the crowned princess of Arendelle gave me permission to attempt my scheme of making a fool of Leopold and Alexa? She most certainly did, though now I was regretting ever telling her in the first place knowing what horrible things might happen.

Then again as I thought about it, Anna did sucker punch that devious Prince Hans in the face to send him packing and since then, we never really had any trouble from the Southern Isles as far as I knew and in some ways she had gotten away with it. Maybe she had a point?

Either way, I had gotten myself into terrible predicament that was possible the worst thing for any servant. Just hoped Anna was right…

 **XXX**

It wouldn't be until half past five in the afternoon in which the servants from Leopold and Alexa's kingdom arrived and all of us staff were dreading the thought of dealing more people like those two and making Arendelle feel like hell on earth. But to our happy surprise, the seven servants they had brought along with them were all very polite and were very much the contrast to the despicable Prince and Princess I can tell you for sure.

I got to know a few of them who told me of their fears of the future as their king was on his deathbed and Leopold was due to be crowned the new king of his kingdom. The thought of their lives being ruled by an idiot like him made me feel sorry for them.

Just then as I was about to take one of the trays upstairs, Gerda came rushing in called out to me.

"Aiden!" She cried out which many including myself turned to look at her.

"Aye, what's up?" I asked.

"Sorry to bother you like this, but you are needed for another task."

"Oh? What's it for?"

"Something about a fur coat or something, for the princess…?"

My eyes widened. In all the time I had spent in getting to know the visiting servants here I had forgotten about my little plan that was to take place tonight and it was a lucky thing to have been reminded about it.

"Oh…oh yeah, Princess Alexa told me to get it cleaned," I explained while trying to show feigned surprise. "Where is about to be collected?"

"Apparently Sir Kristoff has it," Gerda explained looking obviously confused by this. "When did he started cleaning? Thought he didn't like it?"

"Bit rich coming from him," A voice added from across the kitchen which made many of us laugh.

"Any idea where I might find him?" I asked Gerda.

She answered with, "he's by the stables and while you at it, you might want to give it to the princess before the meal." Then she noticed the tray I was carrying. "Here, give that to me and you get the coat."

"Thanks, Gerda," I replied giving her the tray. "I'm sure the coat will be good for the night ahead." I ran off quickly before she and anyone else could work out what I had just said.

It wouldn't be long until I reached the stables where I found Kristoff and Sven as expected sharing a carrot which was disgusting no matter how many times I saw it. Nonetheless as soon as they saw me, Kristoff bent over to the side of the crate he was sitting on to hand me over the fur coat.

"Here it is," Kristoff said. "Managed to get in the state we needed it in."

Sven made a sound that I can only say sounded like a giggle; clearly, he was in on the plan as well. I examined the coat and while it looked no different to what it had looked before but I knew that Kristoff and Sven had done their dirty work to make it anything but.

"Thanks lads, I owe ye two one," I muttered. I hadn't noticed in that moment that Kristoff was dressed rather smart for the evening and while it wasn't like he looked like royalty, he did look a lot cleaner than he was used to though this mainly to look good for the guests despite a clear lingering doubt I could see him having. "Ready to deal with more snooty noble types?"

"I've lost count," Kristoff sighed. "It must be the same every time, they find out that me, a commoner, is dating a princess and they say it's not right. Seriously, if I had a krone for every time some guy said that…I wouldn't need to work as an ice harvester anymore."

"Well really ye wouldn't have to work again once ye marry Anna and that makes ye the prince consort," I pointed out to him. "Naw need to worry about those dafties after that."

Kristoff coughed nervously while Sven wiggled his eyebrows at him with a knowing look. "Um, early days for that…anyway, the coat."

I glanced at the jacket and nodded. "Yeah, thanks again. Anyway, ye meet up with yer missus while I'll deal with the gruesome twosome."

"Good luck, we're gonna need it," Kristoff replied with a hint of concern in his voice. This was really something that if it went wrong then we'd all be up the creek.

With a quick mutter of farewell, I headed back into the castle to find the visiting prince and princess to hand Alexa her coat while then leading them to the dining room. By this point I had managed to know my way around the castle with all the short cuts and that so finding their room wasn't that hard. With three knocks on the door, I called to the pair.

"Yer highnesses, dinner will be ready soon…also yer coat is back."

Almost at once, Alexa answered the door and didn't take one look at me, let alone acknowledge me being there and instead grabbed the coat off me to admire it. "Ahh, just in time too! God am I needing it, how can it be so damn cold at this time of the year?" She said happily and had not only done herself up to look good for the evening ahead but had also must've placed God knows how much perfume on her as it was so strong it was nearly enough to make me cough.

"I hope it is to yer satisfaction," I answered as she examined it.

"Are you sure it has been cleaned?" Alexa asked with suspicion. "Looks almost the same as when I handed it over to you earlier today."

Crap, had she suddenly suspected foul play? I had to improvise on the spot there. "Umm…yeah, about that. It might look nothing different from before, but our cleaners here do a fine job to go for the little details more. Thus, ye get a coat that's frankly better than new."

It wasn't the best description I could come up with and anyone with a brain could sense I was lying, thankfully Alexa and her brother don't really have much of a brain though. Alexa then examined the coat again before shrugging her shoulders and slipped it on while muttering something about strange customs.

"Are you coming yet?" Alexa shouted back into the room. "I'm damn well starving here!"

"Shut up woman, I'm coming!" Replied the voice of Leopold who staggered forward into the door frame who was dressed in his fine attire while his (wig) hair was looking well presented for the evening ahead. "Right then, this better be a night to remember," Leopold as he shut the door behind him.

"About what? Us getting a decent meal for once?" Alexa replied dryly.

"About when Elsa finally agrees for me to court her, idiot!" Leopold snapped. "For God sake woman have you forgotten about why we came here to begin with?"

As I lead them to the dining room, the two of them argued all the way about one thing or the other that as the more it dragged on, especially when it descended into one or the other accusing lying about something that had happened. Bottom line, a complete contrast to the close bond Elsa and Anna shared.

Even when I arrived at the dining room to announce to Elsa, Anna and Kristoff (who were already there waiting at the dining table for the brother and sister) about Leopold and Alexa's entrance, those two will still at each other's throats as I introduced them as normal as I could. "Prince Leopold and Princess Alexa of Saxony."

Then almost like a snap of your fingers, the two of them stopped their squabbling and acted now all royalty like to the three at the table. From then on, it turned into a rather strange dining experience which started almost immediately as soon as they sat down for dinner with Leopold and Alexa sitting opposite of Anna and Kristoff and from the look that Leopold had gazing at Kristoff, it was clear that our resident ice harvester was about to face yet _another_ tirade of abuse.

My job in all of this, along with the helping of serving food, was to stand in the corner and pass orders to anyone else if the royals at the table asked me to do it which I will say is quite the most tedious job as all you do is stand there and wait for orders at any moment even if standing there for an hour can make you tried. It was just my luck that I had to be the one given this job for the evening though tonight would be different as I would get to see the drama that was about to unfold.

Leopold then began to speak to Kristoff. "So then…Kristoffer—"

"Uh, it's Kristoff," the mountain man corrected, by Leopold wasn't listening.

"I hear that you have a pet reindeer…is that right?"

It was something neither of us were expecting as pretty much whenever a snooty noble was chatting to Kristoff as it would be always be about either why he was with Anna or if his title as royal ice master and deliverer was legit, however never had he been asked about Sven and his surprised expression said it all.

"…Yeah, he's called Sven," Kristoff replied warily. "He's been with me since I was a kid, kind of like a brother in someways."

Leopold rubbed his chin in thought. "I see…no chance then that he is for sale?"

"Wait, what?!" Kristoff sputtered with his eyes widened in shock. He wasn't the only one who reacted like that as me, Anna and even Elsa were taken aback by this request. "N-no…he's not for sale!"

"Hmm, pity," Leopold muttered. "You do know where I come from that we do hunt them for sport, and I noticed that there isn't a reindeer head stuck up on the wall here. Would really help add to the place if there was a reindeer to be used."

Kristoff's face went white and I could see Anna grip his hand under the table in comfort and even I felt horrified at the prospect of poor Sven being shot for just the mere purpose of having his head planted on the wall. Just another thing to add to the list of horrid things this man would do if we were king of Arendelle.

Elsa finally spoke up, sharing the same expression of disgust that we had. "For your information Leopold, we do not engage in hunting animals for sport. That has always been a rule that this kingdom has followed for decades."

The prince looked appalled. "What? How the devil is that a thing? You have an entire mountain range up that is filled with them! It's not like they are an endangered species or that, if anything it actually helps keep the population down as a suitable level."

Kristoff, who I knew absolutely _hated_ hunting animals for sports, was growing increasingly agitated at the way Leopold spoke. I was hoping that the starter meals would be arriving soon in case suddenly Kristoff turned the table over and started beating up that prince a new one. Even if Leopold was asking for it.

Elsa could sense the growing tension in the air and just in that moment, a look of relief washed over her face as stepping into the room were the Saxony servants bringing in the starter courses and I went over to help out George by taking off one plate of soup of the big tray he was carrying and bring it over to Elsa.

"Oh, thank goodness we can begin eating," Anna chuckled nervously trying her best to ease the tension in the room. But no one was listening to her.

As I handed over Elsa her plate of soup, Kristoff spoke up again but this time on something different though he bore a smug look while crossing her arms. "Say…that hair does seem well treated."

 _Well that changed quickly._

"What on earth are you talking about peasant?" Leopold questioned.

"Don't know," Kristoff replied in a deadpan manner. "Just seems rather…too good. Is it actually real?"

Elsa and Anna gave him perhaps the funniest 'what-the-hell-are-you talking-about' expressions you could imagine, though Leopold didn't seem offended but if anything, rather flattered. "Well…now that you mention it, yes. Yes, it is real alright."

"So, you aren't lying then?"

"Well of course I'm not lying, why would I do that in front of my future bride to be?" He side-glanced Elsa who seemed unimpressed by this comment while I had to hold the urge to shout 'liar' to everyone there.

Eventually everyone began to tuck into their starter meal while I prepared to move over to the corner until called for further orders. However, my gaze was fixed on one individual who had been rather quiet in all of this. Alexa.

Ever since she had sat down, she had looked uncomfortable and had spent most of the evening so far either glancing down at her fur coat or trying to itch discreetly as possible. It was then I realised that the plan was working! I wasn't the only one to notice this as Kristoff was aware of what was going on and whispered something in Anna's ear which upon hearing it had to hold the urge of giggling loudly before looking back at me and give me a wink of approval.

Elsa, as too some of the Saxony servants, saw this and had no idea what was going on between the three of us. I did wonder how on earth would I confess to her, or even if I should, tell how about the plan. All she could do was acted bemused at it all, but then suddenly a sharp scream followed from Alexa which made us all jump in fright.

"What is it?" Leopold asked looking over at his sister.

Alexa was looking down near the shoulder pad on her coat and a look of horror gripped her face. "I…I've just seen something hoping about in the fur…oh, I feel sick! And…and there's another one…IT'S A FLEA!"

Have a guess were the fleas came from…

Then it all happened as she began to hyperventilate trying to scratch off the fleas from her coat while Leopold was trying to keep her calm which was more like shouting at her to shut up and the commotion saw several nearby servants to see what was going on. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff could only watch in stunned silence and Elsa was positively confused by the shenanigans going on.

"I want to go!" Alexa cried acting more like a child having a tantrum.

"We have even finished the starter, stupid woman!" Leopold groaned.

"Not that!" She cried. "I meant _here_! I want to leave this God forsaken country!"

"Not now my dear sister," Leopold muttered and now looked really embarrassed by it all.

I had to hold the urge to not try and laugh as it was going well…though for some reason, a little bit too well actually. Alexa began shuffling in her chair and clearly was about to leave if we liked it or not, though she pushed her seat back a little bit too much as just then the chair started to tilt backwards on it's back legs and it all seem to happen in slow motion as the princess was falling backwards.

In her panic she tried to grab something to hold on to, but instead she went and grabbed Leopold's hair and before you knew it, she yanked it off his head which didn't do anything to help her as she crashed down on her back. A gasp was heard around the room and all shocked eyes were fixed firmly on the now bald Leopold who very much exposed in more ways than one. With that wig gone, it made him look a lot older than he was and around the side of his head were traces of his actual hair which looked identical to that of Kai's bald head.

In our shocked silence and finding out Leopold's secret, no one had noticed Alexa trying to get herself off the floor (having now thrown off the flea-infested coat) and covering her mouth in horror at what she had just done.

This, I can swear to my grave, was never part of the plan to try and get rid of the prince and princess.

"Y…your highness," Leopold uttered towards Elsa, now he looked like a frightened mouse than an arrogant prince. "I…I can explain everything—"

"Like what? Trying to lie to me?" Elsa interrupted with her eyes narrowing with utter contempt at him. "Since You and your sister arrived here, you've both caused much distress to staff members working here, tried to force yourself on me to court you, just now insulted my sister's partner and finally have proven yourself as a liar right in front of an audience."

Once again I'll repeat myself, him having his wig taking off like that was not part of the plan. The idea had only been to get Alexa's fur coat into such a flea ridden state that it would've made her reacted wildly to plead to her brother to leave Arendelle; not by her yanking his wig off though it had led to a rather epic chewing out of Leopold by Elsa who you could tell by the tone of her voice had been waiting to let it all out like that.

Seeing as there was no way out of this hole he had dug for himself, the prince glanced round the room trying to figure out what to say while avoiding the glares of his servants.

"You lying bastard!" Cried one of his maids who, along with the other Saxony servants, stormed off in anger.

Without any reply to that, the disgraced prince grabbed his wig followed by helping his sister off the floor and dragged her out of the room without saying a word. As soon as they had left, it hadn't quite sunk in as just what had happened within that minute and neither seemed to know what to do until Elsa called for me.

"Aiden, would you please take away those two plates please. I feel that we won't be having anymore company tonight."

"Certainly, yer highness," I replied and went over to gather up the two soup plates, but not before Anna motioned me over towards her and Kristoff.

"Well done, Jock," she whispered while barely holding the urge to keep that grin of her face.

I smiled and went over to the other side to collect the plates while Elsa gave me an odd stare and her eyes darted back between me and her sister. Our queen was no fool and I could tell she could sense some collusion in the air.

"Is there something you like to say?" Elsa asked, her tone hinting her suspicious.

"I'm sorry, what?" I replied with feigned confusion.

"Did you plan something?" She questioned me.

"Come on Elsa, he has no idea what you are talking about," Anna butted in sounding genuine as possible while Kristoff, holding the urge to laugh, said nothing and instead kept his head down by downing much of his soup.

I'm not sure Elsa was buying it as she kept giving me that odd look.

"Nothin' to sat yer highnesses," I answered the sisters as I stacked the plates together. "I'm only serving Queen and country."

There was an element of truth in that as technically I was doing my part to serve the royal family, if though it was somewhat not quite right in some eyes. With that said though, I turned around heading out of the room leaving a bewildered Elsa and sniggering Anna and Kristoff behind.

In the end, I'm please to say that after the prince and princess' humiliation, they would leave Arendelle shortly after and would never be seen again, though I felt bad for the poor servants who still had to work for them in their homeland.

Nonetheless, things would return back to normal…well, as normal as things can get in Arendelle.

* * *

 **And off goes the prince and princess. I'm not sure if done well as I'm sure it's rather patchy. Anyway, next update should be easier as it will take place during the events of _Frozen Fever_. So until then, catch you guys later!**


	15. Almost A Perfect Day

**Wow, an update so soon? Yes, that's right. Anyway, this chapter is pretty much the events of Frozen Fever, though from Aiden's perspective and I always wondered that if the Snowgies 'attacked' the courtyard sometime in the morning and the sisters returned late in the afternoon, surely poor Kristoff and all those servants must've had a hell of a time trying to deal with the Snowgies.**

 **Anway, gives me an idea for this chapter. So without further ado, here we go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 ** _Almost_ A Perfect Day **

Following Prince Leopold and Princess Alexa leaving Arendelle in rather embarrassing yet much deserved circumstances, things return to normal in Arendelle; well as normal as they can be. The rest of June would an uneventful one with not much to talk about other than perhaps the odd trade visit or the usual shenanigans involving our resident snowman.

The 21st June however was to be a big event for us as that day was to be Anna's nineteenth birthday and ever since Anna had done an awful lot to help make Elsa's twenty-second birthday a success, Elsa had always promised that she would repay the favour by doing the same for Anna's next birthday. It was a few days before Anna's birthday that, while Anna was out on a date with Kristoff and unaware of what was going on back at the castle, Elsa gathered all of us castle staff together to tell us what she wanted for her little sister's special day. (Kristoff had already been told of the plan well in advance before he left with Anna.)

It was quite a crowd she had gathered that ranged from not only us servants but also from guards, cooks and even the castle gardeners that I hadn't even seen that much were brought together in one place and all of this was enough to tell you that Elsa was serious about this. The Snow Queen was planning a surprise birthday for Anna and even though you might've thought of her as a very rational and conservative minded woman, her ideas for Anna's birthday looked set to be one hell of a caper to pull off.

The idea was, if I could remember exactly, was to lead Anna from her bedroom by following a very (and I mean _very_ ) long string that would lead around the castle which would lead to her various presents in various places before they would go through a back window which would lead them out of the castle, still following the string remember, to go round the town in which many of the townspeople were to get on the act and lead Anna to find many more gifts that lay in wait for her.

Now you're probably thinking about the back window is why couldn't they had gone through the courtyard like any other sensible person? Well that's were the rest of us castle staff were to play our part in which we would set up the courtyard to have everything ready for their return in which Anna would be given a surprise welcome by us and many of the citizens of Arendelle to a big birthday banquet. And hopefully one in which no one, my Dad mainly, would get utterly _wasted_.

It was a crazy yet fun idea and despite some curiosity from some of us wondering where Elsa had got the idea from, we all began to plan for making Anna's birthday to be, to quote Elsa, a perfect day. I did ponder what Dad and Olga must've thought about it all when they heard the news about Anna's birthday. Amazingly too was that no one, and I really mean not a soul, let slip the big surprise to the princess. Though I suspect that was partly to the fact that if they did, they'd likely be frozen solid by Elsa as an act of treason. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit crazy on that idea but when your Queen has magic powers like that, it's possibly wise not to face said Queen's wrath. A busy few days would follow…

 **XXX**

The day of Princess Anna's nineteenth birthday would come fast and my golden slumbers that morning would be rudely awakened when my door was given a loud knock.

"Aiden, you up yet?" Came the sound of Kai's voice from behind the door.

I groaned rubbing my eyes and adjusting my eyes looking at the small clock by my bedside and eying the time. "Huh? Six o'clock…?"

The usual time for a servant to wake up was seven so being up at this early did show that today was quite an exception.

"Be ready in ten minutes and meet up with us in the courtyard," Kai instructed me. "We have a busy day ahead of us."

"A-aye, sure 'hing," I slurred as I slowly rose from my bed. "See ye doon there."

The sound of Kai's footsteps followed which indicated he was off doing other errands, most likely waking up the rest of the sleeping castle staff. As I slowly came to my senses and glanced up at my small window, the first rays of morning sunshine were streaming into the room and I was surprised by this as for the last few weeks this month, it had been quite a dull month with the weather being rather cloudy and rarely sunny. To have the start of the day looking perfect seemed to bode well for Elsa's hopes that today would be a perfect day.

Stumbling forward, I went over to the water basin to splash some cold water on my face to wake me up before changing from my pyjamas into my servant clothes for the day ahead. Before I left the room, I looked in the mirror to give my hair a brief comb to look as nice as possible to look as perfect as I could.

I know that sounded a bit much but then again with Elsa's request for everything to be perfect had been somewhat drilled into all of us whether she had meant it like that or not. Then again when you have a princess who is celebrating her birthday, might as well put in some effort in.

After I dressed up and was ready for the day ahead, I passed many fellow staff members who were all starting to stumble out of their rooms while all looking to be in a state of sleep. I wasn't the only one who was not fully awake due to this early than expected awakening for us.

As I made way into the corridor that connected onto the servant's quarters, I was surprised to see two maids untangling a long line of red string that was heading towards the back window that Elsa had wanted. I was quite amazed that this part of the plan was going ahead and as I looked over in the direction that the string had already been laid out, there coming around the corner was Elsa who was flanked by Kai and Kristoff on either side with her telling them what I could only imagine from where I was of what she was wanting.

I did find it rather funny that both Kai and Kristoff looked utterly shattered with bags under their eyes and trying to keep up with Elsa's surprisingly perky attitude which seemed more like something you'd expect from Anna than her. Then they saw me and they seemed happy to see I was up.

"Ah, glad your up early than expected!" Kai greeted.

"Good morning, Aiden," Elsa added with a smile.

"Mornin' yer highness," I replied before looking over at the still sleepy looking Kristoff. "Ye alright lad?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, yeah I'm fine," Kristoff murmured while rubbing his hand through his blonde hair. Clearly though by his look, he wasn't.

"Is everythin' goin' to plan then?" I asked Elsa while looking at the long string that had been laid out. "Never thought we were goin' through wi' this idea."

Elsa smiled. "It is happening though. I know this might look a little strange, but it'll be worth it when it all works out."

We didn't say anything at first as we watched those two maids' hand over that huge ball of wool to a man who was out on a basket by the window and carried on untangling it while he hoisted himself up to wherever he was going.

"So…does Princess Anna know this isn't happenin'?" I asked them. "I mean, as in she's still asleep?"

"You know her, she is a heavy sleeper who can't wake up in the morning," Kristoff chuckled. "I was awoken by Elsa and slipped out of bed early without Anna realising it. Probably still asleep right now."

"Wouldn't be surprised," I agreed before looking at Elsa. "Not to sound offensive my Queen, but she can sleep through a battle and perhaps can sleep anyway really."

Elsa then had a thoughtful look. "Yes…I suppose so. I don't know where she got her deep sleeping from."

I felt the urge to chuckle. Anna's deep sleeping was well known by all the castle staff and it was a contrast the sisters had in which Elsa was always an early riser, though I suspect that has something to do with being the Queen.

"Come on, Aiden," Kai suddenly ordered me. "Let's get to work."

Saying our farewells to Elsa and Kristoff, me and Kai headed up to the courtyard which when we arrived, there was a scattering of castle staff all around the courtyard who were either setting out tables and chairs that were for the many guests for today and some staff were working on putting up decorations.

I was to work on the former and despite as easy as it might sound, it took nearly all morning to get those tables and chairs set out and it did strike me of how many were dotted about the courtyard. You might've thought this was for visiting guests and their entourage, but the guests were all for the citizens of the town who Elsa had wanted only to share in the celebrations of her little sister's birthday making it quite an intimate and personal birthday in a sense.

I didn't quite know how long I had been working for but by the time we had managed to get the last of the tables in place and put the covers on them it was already nearly ten in the morning and I was taken aback how much time had passed. Things though were far from over as not long after the tables, chairs and decorations were out, another group of servants were bringing out the food for the day ahead.

The main food of attention was the birthday cake itself which was a large four tier light blue cake that had white lining around it with sunflowers around it. More than worthy in my opinion for a princess' birthday.

So far, everything was running to clockwork and it wasn't too long until Kristoff arrived, holding a large mop with him, though my attention was caught by Sven in which on his antlers hung four wooden buckets with two on either side. Hanging above us and were about seventeen large bits of white sheeting in which had been there all morning, and no one quite knew what they were there for. Then Kristoff dumped the mop into one of the buckets and it turned out that the buckets had paint in them, and he began writing letters on the sheets.

Before I felt the urge to ask Kristoff what he was doing, me along with everyone else watched as Elsa appeared and we waited with baited breathes of her thoughts. She placed her hands on her hips and gazed around the courtyard which now looked all decked out for a birthday and seemed well suited for a such an occasion. Or so we thought.

For a while, which felt like a long time, she did nothing. Then Elsa muttered something to herself and then with powers began to create various ice sculptures either being arches that hugged round the castle walls and then tall ice poles that had a little monument on them. It was always a treat whenever Elsa showed off her powers and some of us gave her a polite applause showing our appreciation in which did bring a smile to Elsa's face. Her little touch to the castle did make a difference in improving the place.

"Thank you for your help," Elsa congratulate us. "I thank you all enough for helping out and…oh."

Her face fell and she rushed over towards the cake many of us, especially the castle chiefs, felt like holding their breathes as Elsa examined the cake and by the look on her face, she might've had doubts about it. Then again where were the candles?

Thankfully it turned out be nothing to do with the cake itself but instead she began to make an ice figurine on top of the cake which became obvious that she was trying to make one of her and Anna. As she tried to find the perfect one, I could hear her muttering her feelings on the matter.

"So lonely…stiff…can't do that! Come on, Elsa. This is for Anna you can do this."

"Relax, it looks great!" Kristoff then called out from where he was.

"I just want it to be perfect," Elsa replied while still looking at the double figurines which now depicted Elsa and Anna ice skating.

Yeah, you might've noticed the word 'perfect' being the word of the day.

"Speaking of perfect…check this out!" Kristoff announced in which we could all see what he had been working on while we had been focusing on Elsa. The seventeen bits of sheeting now had a word on each of them which now read in capital letters as 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA', Though I will say it did look crude and even out of place compared to everything else in the courtyard.

Bless his heart for trying, though several servants whispered remarks over it and even Elsa seemed not sure about judging by her nervous giggle. Nonetheless it had to do as Elsa hurried over to Kristoff to go over a few things. "Kristoff are you sure I can leave you in charge here?"

"Absolutely," Kristoff replied as Elsa rubbed off a bit of paint of his cheek

"Because I don't want anything to this courtyard," Elsa fretted before she went over to a nearby table to adjust some flowers. To say she was wanting to be hands on was quite the understatement.

Our ice harvester friend though seemed a lot more confident. "What could happen? It's all set."

 _Maybe we get stormy weather? The Dahl brothers attack...? Ugh, what a dreadful thought..._

"Olaf! What are you doing?" Elsa suddenly gasped and we all turned to look in her direction to which there was the snowman already eating a slice from the cake and quickly turned around to face Elsa, his lips showing traces of the blue icing on it.

"I'm not eating cake," Olaf lied stupidly with his mouth full of it.

I felt the urge to laugh and how stupid his fib was, but Elsa chuckled as she walked over to him. "Olaf…"

"But it's an ice cream cake!" Olaf cried happily.

"And it's for Anna," Elsa added.

"And it's for Anna…" Olaf repeated sadly before taking the already devoured cake from his mouth and placed it back in the hole where he got it from. Disgusting. Then a thought occurred to me…

 _Wonder if Kristoff has any plans involving Anna and cream…?_

Then a bell rang through the air and the time had now struck ten o'clock and Elsa's mindset changed again. "Oh, it's time!"

"It's time…for what?" Olaf asked naively.

"He hasn't got the best memory," Ivar whispered behind me while trying to hold back a laugh.

Elsa then gave a final glance of the courtyard then over at Kristoff. "Ok…you sure you got this?"

"I'm sure," Kristoff answered.

 _Bloody well hope you do lad, otherwise we're all up the creek._

Just as Elsa was leaving to head back inside the castle, she did one final tweak to the courtyard in which she turned the fountains into rather stunning looking ice sculptures.

"Don't let anyone in until we're ready," Elsa requested, that being the signal in which everyone in town would be invited into the courtyard to await Elsa and Anna's return.

"I won't," Kristoff added now looking rather tired from all of Elsa's constant reminders.

"And don't touch anything."

"I'm just going to stand here."

"I'm gonna probably walk around a little," Olaf suddenly piped up as he waddled around the courtyard to admire all the decorations around the place.

"And keep and eye on that cake!" Elsa finally ordered before closing the big doors behind her as she went off to wake up her sister.

With that all said and done, many of the servants had done their part for the day and as it was day of celebration with nothing else needed for the rest of the day, most left to meet up with their respected families while some like me stayed behind to keep an eye on things. It had all gone a little bit too well mind you…

I headed over towards Kristoff who had nearly knocked the cake over and had managed to only save it before Olaf said one of his random phrases. "I can't read…or spell."

 _Poor wee fella._

I snuck alongside Kristoff and suddenly had a joke to say. "Ye need tae hear anything of what Elsa wanted repeated again?"

"Not you too!" Kristoff groaned, though I could tell he found the joke funny.

"But all seriousness, I think we all did well," I added as we gazed around the courtyard. "What time were ye up at?"

"Elsa woke me at six," Kristoff replied. "She's been up since three apparently."

My eyes widened. "Wait _what_? I know she's an early riser but Christ that's like not even wantin' tae go to bed."

"I know, right? I did say that with the way she has been up all morning that she might make herself ill."

"Aye…then bang goes the perfect day…" I muttered. Sven then went over to the cake and sniffed it while Olaf had that look how he wanted to have his cake and eat it.

Then I had an idea to get under Kristoff's skin. "Anyhow…what's yer gift for Mrs. Bjorgman then?"

He turned turn red while Sven snorted a chuckle that a reindeer could manage. "Um, I'm…I mean, we're not married."

"Ye will be soon though," I replied while wriggling my eyebrows at him. "Ye poppin' the question today then?"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_ too early yet!" Kristoff spluttered. "You know Elsa wants us to wait—"

"More than a day," I finished for him while chuckling. "We all know that. Though seriously, what are ye plannin'?"

Kristoff managed to regain his cool. "Well, there is this cottage up in the mountains that's for staying guests. I have been wanting to try it out for a long time and, well, now's my chance. I'm going to surprise her when I take her up there and we stay for a few nights."

"Ooh, very cosy," I replied in an exaggerated awed tone. "Just the two o' ye havin' a grand time away from the castle…then ye two have wee kids coming along—"

" **Aiden**!"

I fell about laughing at his reaction. "Anyway, I'm off for breakfast, catch ye later!"

And I quickly ran off before Kristoff had the chance to make a response.

As I walked off, I was only thinking about breakfast. I joined the other servants having our late breakfast in which many of us were left starving after the long morning we had getting everything ready. An hour after I left Kristoff, everything though was going perfect…

Then a scream echoed from somewhere and as I was heading back to the servant's quarters to collect something from my room, I turned into the direction of the scream.

One of the maids came rushing through as if she had seen a ghost, though behind her she was being followed by small group of what I could only describe as little snowmen. Yes, you read that right, we were suddenly be invaded by these unknown snowmen which seem to be coming out from every corner of the castle.

Loud voices could be heard from all over the place as everyone was trying to fend off these unknown creatures and I headed up back to the courtyard to make sure everything was safe…in which it wasn't. Poor Kristoff, Sven and Olaf, though perhaps not with the later who seemed more delighted at having these little snowmen all around the place, had them trying to protect the courtyard.

"Kristoff! Ye alright?!" I cried out as it became clear as the little snow creatures were all after the cake in which he was trying to defend.

"What'd you think I'm trying to do?!" He yelled back with some frustration. "Don't just stand there, help me out!"

I didn't need asking twice as I tried all I could to round up the little beasties which despite the admittedly cute smiles they had were not going to win us over with the chaos they were causing. Elsa's hopes of today being a perfect day for her sister's birthday were all falling to bits and lord knows what she would think if she knew what was going on. Speaking of which…

"Um, Kristoff?" I called over to him as I took my own shoe off and use it to try and batter them away.

"Yeah? What?"

"You don't think…Elsa might have somethin' to do wi' this?"

The ice harvester gave me a raised eyebrow just after he managed to knock some of them away. "What'd you mean? That she made these things herself?"

"Then who the hell else has ice powers then in this damn kingdom? Why would Elsa after everythin' she said wants to ruin—Oh, bloody hell…" I ran over as a group of them had managed to grab a large tray of food and I hurriedly ran to grab it off them and take it to somewhere away from them.

Even Kristoff and Sven were taking turns in trying to take the cake away from the snow beasties while Olaf was so blissfully unaware of our predicament while she tried to gather many of his new 'friends'.

"Where are others?!" Kristoff asked as he tried climbing up a ladder with the cake in his hands to get away from them.

"What others, lad?" I replied.

"The servants. Where are they?"

"Ye think we're the only part of the castle that's under siege?" I retorted snarkly. "We're all somewhat busy tryin' to fend off all these wee bastards."

Then it got more harder as up from over the castle walls, more of them appeared in which me and Kristoff gave each other depleted expressions.

Until sunset I really can't remember what happened as we all spent the whole day passed in a blur. The best way to describe it as being like a madcap battle trying to fend off these strange creatures which no matter how hard we tried they just seemed to increase more and more until there seemed to be a thousand of the wee things. And there was the problem of the birthday sign that Kristoff made being ruined and Olaf trying to fix it…with less than satisfying results.

It was now nearly five o'clock in teh afternoon and as we remembered according that this would be the time that she and Anna would return and be greeted to a warm surprise welcome by many of the citizens in the courtyard…one that I'm afraid was likely not going to happen.

By now with the help of some castle staff members and several guests who had literally ran for their lives thinking that the next great freeze was due, we had managed to round up all the little snow creatures, which Olaf had aptly called them 'Snowgies'.

It was now getting desperate as Kristoff still had the cake in one piece but was now standing on top of Sven's head while the stag in turn stood at the very tip of a mountain of the little things who all seemed to merge as one with the sole intention of getting that cake. After remembering how Olaf wanted the cake from earlier, I was beginning to realise that perhaps all snowmen liked cake. Who knew?

In all the chaos of trying to round them up, none of us had noticed it had hit five o'clock and the gates to the castle opened revealing the two sisters. Then everything stopped as stared at them and we didn't seem to know what to do, even the Snowgies stopped what they were doing in the pursuit of the damn cake before they suddenly morphed into a perfect shape like mountain before we all randomly at once cried out 'Surprise!' to Anna.

Both sisters had varied looks of awe.

"Wow!" Anna cried out in amazement, probably unaware that all this was unplanned.

" _Wow_ …" Elsa repeated, though with a flatter tone who probably didn't know what to expect and even looked tired in some regards. Though I assumed that was due to her early rise.

After all the madness that had unfolded, everything seemed to work out as Olaf and some kids rushed forward to carry her off to join in the celebrations while Elsa, now dressed in a line green ice dress, looked out of it and I felt sorry for her as no one seemed to notice her.

Then she sneezed and from out of nothing, five more Snowgies appeared landing on the ground and four of them ran off to join the others while one stay to look up at a now very confused Elsa.

"Y…yer highness," I uttered in disbelief and she looked up me. "Did ye…are they…?"

For once our Queen was speechless and we seemed to be the only ones there that, in all the sudden celebrations, seemed aware that all this was never part of the plan and meekly walked over to join her sister. Even Kristoff seemed more comfortable now as he looked down from the mountain of little snowman at his princess.

"Happy birthday," Kristoff said softly before sliding down the Snowgies, with a little help from Sven, down on his knees until he stopped right in front of Anna before letting his emotions get the better of him in one dramatic fashion.

" _I love you baby!"_ He seemed to sing at the top of his voice, and I was stunned to see this side of Kristoff I never thought was possible.

 _Bloody hell what a way to go._

Nonetheless, Anna looked _utterly_ elated placing a hand on her chest, that look of love written on her face, while Kristoff now turned red as if he hadn't expected it to work. "I do…" he uttered sheepishly before the Snowgies suddenly popped up and stole the cake.

"Oh, for the love of _God_!" I moaned loudly, fearing yet more chasing around.

But to my relief, they carried it over towards Sven who used his antlers as a knife in which cut the cake in many slices before they with their strength threw all the cake slices onto all the many plates with quite amazing accuracy.

 _Did they rehearse that?_

But it all wasn't over just yet as Elsa had one thing left to do but Anna wasn't having any of it.

"Ok, to bed with you," Anna ordered her sister trying to drag her away.

"Wait, wait!" Elsa replied and in turn dragged her sister over to one certain large horn nearby. "All that's left to do is for the Queen to blow the birthday bugle horn!"

Despite Anna trying to repeat 'no' to her, Elsa still went on with her task and as she blew into the horn she sneezed into it and create an almighty snowball that shot out of it like a cannon and seemed to go on for miles that left everyone stunned at what had happened.

 _Pity the poor bastard whoever gets whacked by that thing._

In the end however, I'm please to say that despite all the madness that happened regarding the little snow creatures, Anna's birthday was a complete success. Even though many of us castle staff members were left utterly drained trying to fend the Snowgies off.

To the great irony of many, it turned out that the Snow Queen herself had, despite proudly boasting that the cold never bothered her, had in fact gotten a cold! Like the jokes that Anna got about getting engaged to someone she just met, Elsa was now going to get her own after all this.

Before Anna dragged Elsa up to bed, the Queen then managed to gather all the Snowgies together in which she gave them a stern talking to about the trouble they had caused us and instructed Kristoff to take them up to her ice palace up on the North Mountain where they were now to live.

Anna may have the best birthday she had ever had, but if you were to ask all of us how we all felt as we went to bed, I think I can best describe in these few phrases in which many servants said and I'll let you decide which one _I_ said.

"I don't get paid enough to do this!"

"What a bloody day I've had."

"I want more money from _this_!"

* * *

 **There we are then! I had a few rewrites with this had a bit more subplots in in which I decided to cut out making it too bloated. Anyway two more chapters left and hopefully I can get this finished before Frozen 2 comes out. Also, would anyone like to hear some triva facts about this story as I do planned to do so in the final chapter and maybe even a sequel?**

 **Until then, catch you guys later!**


	16. More Than Just A Spare

**Here we are again with another update and now we have one more chapter to go and then we'll have one of my rare fanfics in which I actually finish it! Also sorry for the wait as last week I was away in Tenerife and did have the time to get this chapter put up but I had done a lot before I left so I didn't have to do much to finish it when I got back.**

 **I'm hoping to get this finished before _Frozen 2_ comes out and I'm really tempted to try a sequel that would take place during the events of the film, though as the film is not out yet I have no idea what direction to take it in though I do have a few thoughts of what might happen to Aiden. Anyway, this chapter is based of the deleted song _More Than Just The Spare_ from the deluxe soundtrack which gave me an idea to try and tackle Anna's self consensus about her status and how it might affect her and rumours I heard of how she might go in the sequel. Anyway without further ado, here we go...**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **More Than Just A Spare**

Not long after Anna's birthday, life went on as it normally does. Well, maybe not quite normal as you'll already know by now with how things go in Arendelle. However, July was to be quite a month of much to talk about that I don't know where to begin. First thing that is obvious that July would mark the first anniversary of Elsa's coronation and since then, it had been a successful reign for her; even though she might've had a chilly start to begin with…

Another thing to remember that also just a day later after those celebrations was to mark another birthday. Olaf. None of us had thought about it at the time but when Elsa had first ran up the North Mountain right after she started the Great Freeze, she had given life to Olaf in the early hours of that morning when she created her ice palace, (a place that I had yet to visit) and it had been decided that was the moment there and then when Olaf was 'born'. Anna wanted to give our little snowman a birthday and while it was small affair that had nothing to the scale that had been seen on Anna's birthday, but it was a nice one nonetheless and he was happy as ever.

However, the month would also bring a lot of interest to us servants as for one of our servants, Ivar, would become a Dad on the 17th July when his wife Helga gave birth to a son, though a rather late birth by all regards. You'll remember the tale of how Ivar foolishly managed to get the butcher's daughter pregnant, who he had been in a relationship with, and the beat down he got because of it. He did have to answer to Elsa about his activities and how to make amends, though after much dealing behind the scenes, Ivar would marry Helga shortly afterwards (though Olaf did have some advice on that part) and despite all the things that had happened they were still happily married. Not bad all considered.

Ivar and Helga received much congratulations from either side of the family, but also Ivar got much salutations from fellow servants like me and also praise from Elsa and Anna who both were always happy to know how life was going on for their servants and didn't want to make us feel like we were part of some kind of extended family to them. That did mean a lot to us making us feel good about ourselves no matter who each of us where.

But on the topic on Ivar and Helga's newly born son, named Johnathan, Elsa would point out it was the first time in years that a member of castle staff had become a parent which when you consider the average age of the servants in the castle are in their fifties and only a handful like myself and Ivar are in our twenties, that was quite something to think about.

Even in the days just after little Johnathan was born, there were questions about his future and where he was going to end up working for. Ivar wanted him to work alongside him as a future servant and create the best farther/son bonding experience you can think about. However, Helga's farther and our official meat supplier, Lars, wanted the boy to be in line to run the family business when the time came, even though he already had two big strong sons who seemed more than worthy for that position. It would be a rather awkward family affair which for their personal sake I will say nothing more about.

 **XXX**

Just five days later after becoming a Dad, Ivar had his day off and he had decided he would take his newly born son, alongside his wife, a tour around the castle. I can tell you for one thing that whatever his thoughts when he first heard that he was going to be a farther, Ivar really had taken to his role as a Dad like a duck to water and he really had changed for the better as a person that those days of his so called ways of chatting up woman during his time off were long behind them.

The day itself I can remember was quite a slow day as we had a just had a trade visit from some far-off kingdom which by all accounts had been a very successful affair and that according to Kai would likely have us carrying wheelbarrows of money. I'd believe it when I saw it. I was in the garden during my break tying my shoelace and there hadn't been anyone I could talk to as Elsa was with her council alongside some of the visiting delegates going over the final details of the trade agreement which wasn't as easy as it might sound as it involved a lot of signing and debate that could take a few hours would you believe.

Also, Kristoff was away up to the mountains where he would begin of what he was hoping for a successful ice harvesting summer and only one left was Anna, though I didn't know where she had been all day.

Just as I manged to tie my shoelace was when I spotted Ivar and Helga arriving into the garden as Helga held the baby in a cream coloured cloak as Ivar was happily pointing out all the various things in the garden like some excited kid pointing out all the things he wanted in a toy shop. Little Johnathan though, while wide eye looking up at his parents, probably didn't have a clue what his rather giddy Dad was talking about and Helga tried holding back a laugh while shaking her head in amusement.

"Honey, I don't think he knows what you're saying," Helga pointed out.

"C'mon, babe," Ivar whined playfully. "This is going to be the place where he'll work and it's only natural that he learns the place from an early age."

"That is my Dad has anything to say about it," Helga muttered with an eye roll before looking down at her son and smiled. "Isn't Daddy being a bonehead, little Johnny?"

"I heard that!"

I laughed at the couple's banter and when they heard me, they looked in my direction and both seemed happy to see me. "Aiden! How's it going?" Ivar greeted happily.

"Just doin' my job as always," I replied. "Hope I'm no' gettin' in the way of a wee family moment?"

"No, of course not," Helga smiled. I hadn't met much of her, but I could tell that she was a nice girl who often acted as the more level-headed one of the pair and even had a witty side to her. "Besides, anything to get our mind of _this_ idiot over there talking about castles is more than welcomed."

"Oh, Helga come one!" Ivar groaned. "I'd love our son to get the best start in life. But yeah, come over and say hello to little Johnny!"

Couldn't really refuse the offer as any doting parent always wants to show off their newly born kid even if their actions did come of slightly vain. That all said, Johnathan was quite a big baby that was a total mix of his parents having his mother's brown hair and pale skin tone but had his Dad's nose and green eyes. Being quite a big baby, he did have a rather somewhat stocky built to him that was from his mother's side and no doubt he was going to grow as quite a big lad when he got older.

"Wow, what a lovely wee bonny laddie ye have there. Ye must be both proud," I said as I looked down at their baby.

"I swear he's going to go onto big things," Ivar predicated proudly.

Helga then remembered something. "Actually, by the way Aiden. There is something I've been meaning to ask you about.

"Aye? What's that?" I questioned.

"Ivar tells me that your parents are expecting?"

"Ah yeah…next month actually, I'd have a wee brother or sister…"

"Well if you do see them soon, tell them I said congratulations when the time comes."

"A-Aye, sure…I'll let them know ye said that…" I felt reluctant to talk about my parents expecting a new child, not because I was embarrassed in some ways, but…

"Is something wrong?" Ivar asked with concern in his voice.

I sighed biting my lip. "Well…not really, _well_ …yeah actually."

"Don't you want you a young sibling?" Helga inquired.

"Wait, no, no, no nothin' like that," I replied. "I'm just thinkin' of how strange it is when ye really think about it. My Dad's nearly sixty and my stepmother is nearly forty…and they're havin' a wee kid. My Dad's old enough to be the _granddad_ for God's sake. Then the stories ye hear of woman givin' birth at that age and, ye know…"

I went silent. Truth be told this whole pregnancy thing with my parents had left me concerned about the potential implications that might happen and this had been something I hadn't brought up when I first told my fellow staff members when I first announced Olga being pregnant. Now with only some weeks left, I was really starting to let my concerns start to show and I could tell that Ivar and Helga seemed aware and perhaps understanding to my concerns.

"I'm sorry to hear that this is bothering you," Helga sad sadly. "I can understand where you're coming from on the matter."

"Why didn't you tell of this sooner?" Ivar asked. "You know we would've been happy to support you."

I placed my hands on my hips and looked over at the fountain nearby. "Don't know really…maybe I'm tryin' to put on an image that I'm strong and not show weakness. Stupid, I know."

Ivar placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a heart filled smile. "Don't worry man. As we all know, strange things happen in Arendelle, mostly for the better, and that makes me sure that everything will turn out alright for you."

"Yeah…that is true I suppose," I muttered before becoming silent again.

I didn't know how long we were silent for but suddenly, Ivar's mindset changed again, and he beamed at his son and wife. "Anyway, you take care dude. I have a tour to continue."

"Here we go again," Helga muttered following an exaggerated sigh which made me chuckle.

I watched the little family as Ivar began leading them out of the garden and onwards towards the kitchens that I heard Ivar happily said to his little family. I stood there watching them leave and it did make me think about what the future might hold. Maybe Ivar was right, and things would be alright and that I'd look back on these fears in hindsight and laugh at it.

I knew that my breaktime was nearly finished and I prepared to leave until I heard what seemed like a sniffing sound. I glanced around the garden thinking that there might've been an animal about but alas I didn't see any. Then the more I heard the sniffing it did start to sound quite feminine and more like a person.

As I made a small walk round the maze of wonderfully decorated trees, flowers and bushes, I quickly found the source of the sound. There sitting on one of the marble benches near the edge of the garden was the one and only Princess Anna who was crying silent tears and rubbing away some of them.

It did break my heart seeing her like this as it was very rare to see Anna like this as she seemed always happy and never upset, so something bad must've happen to Anna and I wasn't sure if I should leave her alone or try to comfort her.

At first, I thought I should leave her to deal with it on her own; it wasn't really in my job description to act like a psychiatric to a royal. Yet for some reason I couldn't help but feel like I had to do something and as I thought about it, my job is to help _and_ serve Arendelle's royal family. I was aware that whenever Anna was feeling down, she'd either go to Elsa or Kristoff for comfort but considering both were unavailable during this time, who else was she to turn to?

Without a second thought I began walking up to her and I was going to try and hope it would go well. "Umm, yer highness?"

Anna nearly jumped and looked up at me, her eyes while not red were nonetheless glazed from her crying.

"Oh! Uh, h-hello there, Aiden." Anna replied with a nervous chuckle and trying and failing to look like everything was fine with her. "I didn't hear you coming…kinda surprised me."

"Yer highness, has somethin' happened?" I asked. "Look, no need to try lie about it. I'm here to help…well, somehow."

I didn't know if I had worded it right, but Anna then drew in a shaky breath and rubbed a tear from her cheek. "Ok…it…it's those…trade people." She answered warily.

"Did…did they say anythin' to ye?"

"Ye-no, well, not directly if you know what I mean."

"Ye mean talkin' behind yer back when they thought ye weren't listenin'?"

Anna sadly nodded. Talking behind someone's back was always a horrible thing wherever you were a royal or not, I knew very well on this subject thanks to my Dad's first wife…

"Sorry to hear about this," I sighed sadly. "Where was this and what happened?"

The princess gave me a reluctant look and while often she would have talked until the cows came home, seeing her looking not sure if to talk about something personal did make me think I might've crossed a line. "Um…sorry I asked. I can lea—"

"No, no please," Anna sniffed. "There isn't anyway else to talk to."

"Not even Olaf?"

"Don't know where he's gone, last time I heard he was heading to that chocolatier shop in town."

I groaned and roll my eyes. "Oh naw, don't tell he's goin' to have another sugar rush _again_?"

 _Olaf's sugar rush thing is something for another story…_

For some reason though, Anna revealed a small smile for a moment at my words. Don't know if it was something in the way I said it, but I suppose it was a start.

"Ok yer highness, what happened? I swear I won't tell anyone if that's what ye want?"

Anna thought for moment glancing over at one of the decorated bushes before looking up at me again. "It happened just after me and Elsa finished the first meeting with them," Anna began.

"Aye?"

"They…not once did they seem to notice me there. Only interested in speaking to Elsa..."

"Aye? Go on…"

"Even though I was right there with Elsa, not once did they seem to ask me anything," Anna said sadly. "Absolutely blanked me. Then as we were leaving, I stumbled on the way out and I heard them chuckling to themselves saying…" Anna paused and wiped another tear from her eye and sniffed. "They…they just said it was typical of the spare being clumsy and that I was just… _pointless_."

The princess went quiet and couldn't seem to say anymore given how heartbroken she was. It is at this point that I must say that while Anna was always a live wire and didn't seem to have anything to bother her, but there was one thing that would always bring her world down and that was whenever someone made an offensive comment about her being a spare and how she seemed worthless for anything.

It wasn't hard to feel sorry for Anna when your older sister was Elsa, who was the of course the first born, but also the Queen of Arendelle, had the looks and all the attention of suitors wanting her and that wasn't even going into about her ice powers. Though Anna loved her sister dearly and vice versa, our princess was always sometimes a little jealous that she never had such attention. Clearly, she must had suffered from some sort of anxiety problems like her sister during their difficult childhood when split.

I had to do something to help her, but what?

"Listen Princess Anna," I said as I cleared my throat. "I never had any siblin's growin' up, well, until now that is, so I don't know how it feels to be in that situation. But even though ye are the spare…let me tell ye that yer more than just a spare."

Anna looked up with a surprised look. "W-what'd you mean?"

"A lot really," I chuckled. "For starters, if it weren't for ye, yer sister might have remained up on the North Mountain not only to never return but leave Arendelle in winter forever. In fact, me and many others might've frozen to death and I wouldn't be here talkin' to ye."

She then fiddled around with one of her braids as Anna seem to think about it. "Well…that is true…"

"I'm not finished yet though," I added. "Ye helped managed to change Kristoff into a better person. From what he tells me that if ye hadn't met him, who knows what might've happened with him. He may not be some prince, but he loves ya all the same and treats ye if ye were the queen."

Anna then smiled as she thought about Kristoff. Next to her sister, I could tell that ice harvester did really mean a lot to her. "I…I guess that's true."

I felt more confident speaking to her about this the more our conversation went on. I did though have one more thing to add. "Yer highness…there is one more person that really owes it to ye."

"Huh? Who?" Anna asked curiously.

I coughed nervously. "Well…when I think about it…me."

Anna's eyes went wide, and her face pretty much said 'wait, what?' written on it but she still said it regardless.

"It is really," I muttered. "Ye helped me get this job as a servant, even if yer interview standards weren't quite… _normal_ , let's say. But ye hired me and not only that, ye gave me a job and a purpose to help in this castle. It will be nearly comin' up to a year actually when I joined and if it ye hadn't helped me join…God knows if my life would've been the same…"

I was taken aback when I thought about what I said. Crazy to think how things might've been if I wasn't working in this castle. It was all thanks to Princess Anna that I was even here. "Once again, yer highness, all I can say is… thank ye…for givin' me a chance. Ye are truly more than a spare if ye ask any of us servants and no doubt yer sister will agree on this."

Anna looked at me in stunned silence and I had no idea what I had just done, I had really meant a lot of that though I didn't know how she was going to respond to all that. Her reply would be of her getting up from the bench and embracing me into a tight hug.

"Thank you, jock." She muttered quietly, though her hugging was always a little too tight…

"N-nae danger," I coughed. "I'm kinda suffocating and Kristoff might get jealous if he sees this."

"Oh! Sorry, sorry," Anna rambled as she quickly released me. "Thanks…that means a lot."

"Aye, well. I'm sure yer sister will be…oh no!"

"Aiden? What's wrong?!"

"Look at the time! I'm going to be late!" I pointed up at the clock tower nearby which read ten past one in the afternoon. I hadn't realised that in the time I had taken to speak to Anna that time had gone by quite fast and now I was late. "Sorry yer highness, gotta dash!"

With that said, I ran off out of the garden so quick that Anna didn't have the time to react to what I had just said. Despite my own predicament in that moment, I felt rather glad to have helped the crowned princess of Arendelle and hoped that it could help her confidence, in a small way, that she was simply more than just any royal spare.

Maybe she was yet to go on for bigger things…?

* * *

 **There we are. Not much to go now and one more chapter to go. Plus I will be realising my trivia section of the story and if any of you have any questions about the story and/or characters, I'd be happy to answer to anything you might have and that all answers should all be down at the end of the final chapter. Thank you for your reviews so far as they help motivate me to crack on with this fic. So until then, see you soon!**


	17. Happy Anniversary

**...It's done...it's finally done! So here it is, the last chapter of 'Tales of a Servant' and while I might've doubted that I could this done, here it all finished. I know I don't have the biggest amount of views for this story and that can always be dishearten if you feel like no one is interested, but for the small audience that is you who have followed this story from the start, I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart for given just enough to keep going with the story.**

 **Plus, the fact I got this finished well ahead before Frozen 2 is out means that I'm ready for whatever comes next...oh yes, if _Frozen 2_ turns out to be good then you will be seeing a sequel in which Aiden will hopefully return! At the end of this chapter, you'll get a trivia section over many intresting facts about this fic. So for the last time (for now) here we go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Happy Anniversary**

The cloudy skies and the cooling temperature around Arendelle signified that summer was coming near to it's end as it turned into late August. That month had been quite an uneventful one for us in the castle as there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary that happened…as ordinary that is when it comes to life in Arendelle.

Elsa still carried on her duties as Queen with her sister helping her out in anyway possible, Kristoff seemed to be doing well with his ice harvesting business and Olaf did his usual antics that would keep us servants amused. Funnily enough in terms of Arendelle's royal family is that if I was to write something about what happened in that month, I'd probably have nothing to write and I could just end this tale here and now.

Alas, that month really hadn't anything to do with them, but rather it was a more personal matter regarding me and my family.

The late stages of Olga's pregnancy were starting to be felt as my fears of her pregnancy turning out to be a disaster were starting to come true in some ways. On the 2nd August, Olga suffered from a horrifying contraction that caused her to faint and we all felt the worse. Though by some miracle, Olga turned out to be ok in the end though the Doctor recommended that she remained bedridden for the rest of the pregnancy due to her condition. What was more worrying that I'll remember is that regarding about the baby's health, the Doctor had the disturbing news that because of what happened is that the baby might have only a fifty/fifty chance of surviving.

Dad was really shattered by this and vowed to stay at home to look after his wife and even decided to go on absent from work for the time being in order to look after Olga, thankfully many of his co-workers in the fishing trade were sympathetic to our plight. I helped too whenever I had a day off work to cover for Dad when he needed some rest and poor Olga really wanting to get out of bed and hoped her baby would come out alright.

How I hoped to God that tragedy wouldn't strike us…

 **XXX**

All I can remember about that August was that most of the month weather wise was constantly cloudy and there had only been a handful of days it which it had been sunny. How fitting for the cloudy skies to match my thoughts on how I was feeling.

I was leaning against the battlements along the top of the castle walls and gazed out towards the fjord and tried to think of something to get my mind of the subject. I wasn't really feeling well as I had a frightening nightmare that had not only Olga suffering a miscarriage but also leading to her death. Even though it was just a nightmare it had felt that real and I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night and anyone who saw me that day would've seen me looking like utter shit with dark rings below my eyes and me staggering around looking exhausted. I was quite snappy too at anyone who asked a stupid question and pretty much not in a fit state to work or talk too.

I hadn't made myself popular that day because of my short temper and I did my best to avoid the fellow staff in the castle. No doubt I was going to be reported for this.

So ashamed by this I was that I didn't have my lunch with my fellow colleagues, and I grabbed my sandwich up where I was now looking out on the fjord and pondering. It was then after I finished my sandwich was that I suddenly remembered what today meant; 26th August just so happened to be one year from the day in which I first met Princess Anna and found myself working here in this castle.

"What a bloody year it's been," I chuckled softly to myself.

It really was one I don't think you could've written for a story. From that first meeting when Olaf came quite literally sliding into my life during the Great Freeze, meeting royalty, taking a reindeer out for a walk, Ivar's antics, taking care of snooty royalty, evil gangsters, birthday madness, drunken princesses and lord knows pretty much everything you have read so far. A lot of highs and lows in just this year alone, though despite thinking about all that, Olga still had me worried.

So deep in my thoughts I was then that I didn't hear or sense someone coming up beside me.

"Hi Aiden!" Came a cheery voice which made me jump out of my skin.

"Damn it, Olaf!" I coughed on some of my lunch.

The little snowman didn't seem to realise that I was chocking on my sandwich and carried on with his cheery greeting. "Didn't see you at lunch, where were you?"

I sighed sadly. "Just needin' time to myself. I'm worried."

"Worried? About what?" Olaf asked titling his head slightly.

"Y…Ye have heard about my stepmother about tae give birth?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm…I'm _scared_ …"

We were both silent with neither of us knowing what to say. Truly the more I thought about it, I was getting more anxious by the day and lord knows how my poor Dad was coping if I was anything to go by. So much for having time to reflect and get your mind of things as instead all I had done was somehow make myself feel worse.

"Aiden, are you crying?" Olaf suddenly noticed.

I placed my hand below my eye and felt a tear that had been rolling down my cheek, hadn't noticed that I was crying due to my mind being so full of doubt I couldn't feel anything.

"I'm…I'm alright lad…well, no, not really," I rambled. "Just been a crazy time really."

"But I thought you'd be happy to have a little brother or sister?" Olaf inquired and leapt on the wall to sit alongside me.

"I'm no' worried 'bout that," I replied before eventually telling him my concerns over about the dangers of Olga giving birth at her age, plus the nightmare I had that evening.

I then realised in that moment I hadn't told anyone in the castle, let alone Elsa or Anna, about this information I was keeping. Olaf would be the unlikely lucky guy to know of my secret concerns.

This must've been quite the strangest scene you could imagine; a servant telling a snowman about the dangers of pregnancy. Even for life in Arendelle that seemed strange. After I told him the whole truth, he stared at me with a look of concern and confusion (mostly the latter.)

I couldn't blame the snowman for looking perplexed about this information, such innocence I really didn't want to break. Then to my surprise, he grinned.

"Don't worry, Aiden! Miracles can happen in Arendelle!"

My eyes widened at first until I quickly shook my head and sighed. "Olaf, I dinnae think ye—"

"Don't you remember how Elsa and Anna managed to save Arendelle and brought back summer?" Olaf said.

"That was—"

"Oh! And don't forget how Hans nearly pulled off his plan yet was stopped?"

"I don't think ye—"

"Don't you see? Things always turn out for the best, just have to believe in yourself!"

Bless him for trying, but his optimism was hitting a brick wall known as my cynicism. "Listen lad, I know yer tryin', but I dinnae think _everyone_ can be lucky like Elsa and Anna."

"Huh? What'd you mean?"

I opened my mouth, yet I couldn't find the words for it. For the first time, Olaf had stumped me and I didn't know how to respond to his question. "I…never mind, maybe ye could be right…"

We didn't say anything as the topic ended on a rather awkward note and sat in silence looking back out towards the fjord. I didn't know how long we sat there silent for which when we had someone like Olaf being quiet was quite something until then I decided to bring up another topic.

"Actually…today's a wee bit special for me personally."

Olaf leaned forward looking curious to know what I had to say. "Oh…? What is it?"

"Today's the 26th August…my first anniversary for when I first started workin' 'ere."

"Oh!" Olaf gasped. "Happy anniversary, Aiden! Hope you'll have…wait."

The little snowman looked back towards the castle before staring at me again with his eyebrows furrowed and a look of bewilderment which I found funny somehow. "Why is no one celebrating?"

"Wait, _what_?" I spluttered.

"It's your anniversary, right?" Olaf questioned. "Shouldn't there be a celebration or something?"

I chuckled and ruffled the three bits of sticks on his head that he used for 'hair'. "I dinnae think ye understand. Ye dinnae really celebrate yer first anniversary at work, maybe yer tenth or twentieth anniversary but certainly no' yer first."

The little snowman made a humph sound. "Really? Huh…well if you have no one to celebrate with, I'm here for you!" He ended giving me one of his infamous 'warm hugs' which despite being rather chilly to have him close, it was actually quite a nice feeling.

"Heh, thanks laddie," I muttered before checking my pocket watch to see what time it was. Time to go now. "Anyway, must be off. Take care of yerself, Olaf."

"See you soon, Aiden!" Olaf replied before he waddled off humming a little merry tune for himself.

Annoying as you might've thought of him at annoying at worst or perhaps naïve at best, I didn't feel any ill feeling for our little snowman friend as he really knew how to make you feel better no matter how bad things might've been for you.

In truth, if I had an ounce of his optimism then you can bet I'd be a happier person on life.

 **XXX**

It was now nearly nine in the evening and darkness started to cover across Arendelle, but life still went on the castle as I was out to do my next task; bring Queen Elsa her tea to her study. After I met with Olaf earlier in the day, the day had rolled along at a slow pace with nothing much really to report on other than the fact that sometime after dinner, Kristoff and Sven returned from what I heard was a rather decent ice harvest in which Anna welcomed back her boyfriend with a rather steamy make out session in the courtyard...

I'll won't go into all the details for the innocent minds reading this.

But back on topic, I hadn't been to Elsa's study that much neither had I served her tea, so it proved to be nice rare duty to perform. As I arrived outside the door to the study, I did my little balance act trick by putting the silver tray on my left arm before knocking on the door.

"Queen Elsa?" I called.

"Yes?" Came her voice from behind the door.

"Yer tea is ready, yer majesty." I answered.

"Come in," Elsa replied and with my free hand I opened the door quickly before getting the free hand back to holding the tray again.

There was Queen Elsa sitting at her desk and looking through a stack of documents which she'd either put some to the side which weren't of use and then signing ones that seemed to be of interest to her. Upon seeing me, she smiled.

"Good evening, Aiden," Elsa greeted me.

"Evenin' yer majesty," I replied back before placing the tray down on the desk (which proved to be a little problematic with the many documents lying on the desk) before pouring her tea in a cup.

"Excellent timing to bring me a tea," Elsa commented. "Could do with one right now, I swear these documents are made to make my life stressful."

"Happy to be of help yer majesty," I smiled before giving her the cup in which she started sipping as soon as she got it. "Anythin' else ye require?"

"No, that'll be all, thank you," Elsa responded, which was my cue to give her a brief bow of my head before leaving the room…that was until she spoke again. "Wait…there is something I do need to say for you Aiden Fergusson."

As she said my full name, I felt tense. It had always been something whenever anyone mentioned my full name was when I was in trouble for something or something serious. "A-Aye…? Yer Majesty?"

The Snow Queen had turned on her chair staring straight at me with those piercing blue eyes of hers. "Mr Fergusson, I have heard reports from several members of staff today that you have been acting in rude and angry manner today. Is this true?"

I sighed in defeat, knew my early morning snappy nature was going to get reported sooner or later. "…Aye, yer majesty."

"Why this sudden change in attitude?" Elsa asked. "I do not wish for any of my staff to act in an impolite manner towards each other. I know this is not like you, Aiden. What is going on?"

I might as well tell her the whole truth. "My Queen…I do apologize fer my actions today. My family have been worried regarding my stepmother's pregnancy which isn't helping me. I did have a horrible night though." Elsa stared at me as it her look was saying 'go on' at me. "I had this horrific nightmare ye see. It was about my stepmother, Olga, who suffered a miscarriage but also died as well. It was that real I couldn't get back to sleep again thus—"

"How you acted today," Elsa finished for me softly. She then rubbed her chin thoughtfully and this time had a look of sympathy on her face. "Well…I can only express my sympathies you and anything your family is having during this time. However, you must remember not to act to let your frustrations out on the other servants in the castle. They are only trying to do their job and I believe you should be more patient with them, as I mentioned before, I want everyone in this castle to feel like a family no matter who they might be and I don't want anyone to suffer any form of disrespect. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, yer majesty," I nodded sadly.

Elsa then turned on her chair again and took another sip of her tea before looking over her documents. "One last I forgot to mention which Olaf brought to my attention."

My eyebrows raised as I had a vague idea where this was going. "Oh? What'd he say?"

"Apparently this is your first anniversary since you started working here," Elsa smiled. "Happy anniversary."

"Uh…thanks," I muttered wide eyed, surprised she of all people was saying this. Surely Olaf had put her up to say that to me, right?

I was about to question this until we heard the sound of rushing footsteps down the corridor which seemed to be getting louder and rushing into the study was an exhausted and flustered Kai. "Apologies your majesty for this unexpected arrival," Kai panted before he looked over towards me. "Thank goodness I found you!"

"Aye? What is it?" I asked in which me and Elsa shared a look on confusion at what was going on.

Kai had to get his breath back before speaking again. "Aiden, I just got a message from your farther that arrived not long ago."

"Message?" I questioned; it was rare for my Dad to write for me since I started working here.

"Where was this found?" Elsa added looking just as curious as I was.

Kai looked over at Elsa. "One of the guards found Mr. Fergusson trying to pass a message for Aiden. Apparently, it's most urgent the guard told me."

"What is it then?" I asked, though I could see Kai's face twitching if something troubling.

"Aiden," he began softly. "It's…rather personal…it's your stepmother."

"W…What are ye tryin' tae say?!" I demanded as I felt my insides twisted in discomfort as a horrible feeling seem to rise within me. Surely not, please God _no_.

Kai breathed, looking like he was trying to word this correctly. "She…she's going into an earlier than planned labor…but that's not all—"

"For God's sake, spit it out!" I yelled, my worst fears were becoming a reality and from the corner of my eye, I could see Elsa looking alarmed at whatever it was as she griped the arm of her chair tightly.

"Let me speak!" Kai replied quickly. "Your…your stepmother though is weak…very weak. They don't know if either or _both_ will survive…your father needs you and…I'm so sorry…"

I hadn't seen the castle overseer looking depressed like that before but whatever he was feeling was nothing compared to the storm inside of me that was starting to make me shake with pure fear. Nightmares weren't supposed to come true, right?

We both turned to look over at Elsa in which I spoke first. "Y-yer majesty, do I have permiss—"

"Yes at once," Elsa interrupted quickly pointing towards the corridor. "Please, go at once…take care, Aiden."

I didn't need asking twice to leave and after given the two of them a quick farewell, I dashed out of the room and into the corridor to try and find my way out of the castle. I was nearly bumping into people as I rushed like a madman to find the way out and I didn't have time to apologise with my mind going in what felt like a hundred different directions.

Didn't know how long Olga had been in labor for, or worse, how long to _live_.

No, surely she could survive. As I exited the main doors to the castle and into the courtyard, I dashed like the clappers onwards to my old family home while gaining several confused looks from onlookers who while going about their daily lives were unaware of the situation in mind. I couldn't joke here as weaved by way through familiar streets to find the house and I felt my lungs were going to burst with the amount of running I had been doing; I must've ran more here than I had done the whole year by how I was feeling.

My old family home might not be far from the castle but in the state I was in and with the whole world seemly going faster than it should've been, it felt like I had been running for hours and then I finally saw the house up ahead a brief feeling of relief washed over me. Very brief I might add.

I saw the upstairs window was lit which I knew was my parents bedroom and no question where Olga was located, though down in the street below and to my displeasure, it seemed that news had spread to the neighbours and a motley crowd of them had gathered outside the home. All wanting to know what was going on.

"Look, it's their son, Aiden!" One of the nosy neighbours pointed out to the crowd as I ran up to the door and weaving past them though almost at once they all started barking questions.

"Where have you been, Aiden?"

"You heard any news?"

"Do you think Olga will survive?"

I had no time to answer any of them and neither did I want to do anything with them and as I approached the door, I looked back at them and gave them a dirty look.

"How the bloody hell should I know?!" I snapped. "Mind yer own damn business and let us be!"

I knew they weren't going to leave so easily and began banging on the door in which the voice of my Dad boomed with him shouting, "Go away!"

"Dad! It's me!" I cried and at first nothing happened until I could hear the sounds of footsteps rushing towards the door and then Dad opened the door halfway opened and before I had the chance to greet him, the nosy neighbours all began asking Dad question and probably like me had no time for them and he practically dragged me by my shirt off the doorstep and into the house before slamming and locking the door behind them.

For a brief moment I had the chance to look around the main sitting room and I have to smile seeing that not much had changed since I left to work in the castle, though that quickly was forgotten about when I saw Dad. Good lord, had you ever seen a man look so broken in your life?

His eyes were red raw with tears from the crying he must've done from the day and he seemed so crestfallen as to how to cope.

"Dad…I'm…I'm so sorry," I uttered to him, though he didn't say anything and only pulled me in for tight hug in which I held him close as he sobbed onto my shoulder (we were both the same height).

"This is my fault!" Dad croaked. "I shouldnae have gotten Olga intae this state! This'll kill 'er!"

"Dad listen," I answered pulling him away and seeing the tears rolling down his slightly wrinkled face. "This, I mean, her pregnancy was an accident, but don't ye dare say that it's yer fault! Look, I dinnae know myself how pregnancy works, but for now we have to be strong for Olga, am I right?"

Dad didn't say anything and curtly nodded before glancing over at the fireplace. Just then we heard someone coming down the stairs and we both looked over to see a short, old and chubby person with a balding head and a grey moustache coming into the room.

At once Dad quickly spoke at once. "Doctor! How is she?!"

"Mr Fergusson," the Doctor began. "I have to tell you that… _hello_?"

He noticed of my sudden appearance and Dad quickly noticed this and began to introduce me to the Doctor. "Aiden, this is Doctor Larsson, Doctor Larsson please meet my son, Aiden."

"Ah, good evening boy," Doctor Larsson greeted me with a nod. "I do apologise that this is not best time for acquaintances."

"It's ok sir," I replied. "I heard the news from work and I came as fast as I could."

My brief first meeting with the doctor was quickly stopped as Dad wanted to know what the doctor had to say. "Ye can talk later but first…how's my wife? Please tell me she's alright…"

Doctor Larsson sighed and cleared his throat. "I do have good news and bad news, Mr Fergusson."

Hearing that alone caused me and Dad's hearts to sink. "Wh-what's the news then?" I uttered with trepidation.

"The baby seems to be born a few works earlier than expected, a premature birth this'll be," Larsson explained. "However, we hope that the birth will be a trouble-free one…that is the good news I'm afraid."

Dad's face went wide and his hands started to tremble. "H…how is…how is Olga?"

The old doctor gave us a look of sympathy. "Mr Fergusson…your wife's condition is—weak."

I quickly placed my hand on Dad's back just in case he suddenly fainted, though I wasn't doing much better as was now at the stage of being sick with fear. "For God's sake, tell us _how_ she's weak!" I questioned him.

"It would appear that Olga has encountered in the late stages of her pregnancy some sort of flu which has left her in this condition," Larsson elaborated on in which me and Dad glanced at each other in confusion.

"A flu?" Dad asked. "Ye mean nothin' tae dae wi' her age?"

"I wouldn't rule that out entirely," Larsson corrected. "Alas, I just hope she'll have enough strength for the birth. Her life, I'm afraid to say, is on a knife's edge."

Neither of us said anything with the room becoming deadly silent, though that changed when Dad suddenly let out a mournful cry of anguish and nearly fell to his knees. He loved Olga so much, his soulmate, and if anything was to happen to her tonight…

"Aiden?" Larsson suddenly spoke up just as I was tying to comfort my Dad.

"Yes sir?"

"It is a good thing that you're here. I need you keep your farther company while I need to join the midwife and her assistant as I don't him upstairs in case something goes wrong. It appears he needs all the support he can, will you do that?"

"Absolutely," I replied while rubbing Dad's back. "I'll do what I can…how long do ye think it'll take?"

"My own guess, roughly an hour, I'll be back soon as I have news to share." With that said, the doctor headed up backstairs to oversee the birth while I led Dad over towards the sofa in which the poor man placed his head in his hands while sobbing quietly.

This was truly a horrible situation to be in and in all the years that my Dad had been there for me when I was a kid when I was upset, it was my turn to support him.

"Dad, do ye want a cup tea?" I asked him, to which he replied with a sad nod and stared sadly at the fireplace.

I made my way round to the kitchen which much like the rest of the house hadn't changed much so I knew where everything was. A couple minutes later I returned with two mugs of tea in which Dad hadn't moved from the sofa and was still staring blankly at the fireplace. He did though accept the mug and we sat in silence drinking and not knowing what to say in that moment.

It was then I noticed on the wall nearby the stairs was a family picture of the three of us which had been painted when I was twelve years old and it did bring me back some fond memories. "Hey Dad, see the picture?"

Dad slowly looked over at the picture and replied with, "What of it?"

"Look at us in it, ye and me have changed a lot with me getting older and ye, well, getting' greyer."

"Hauld yer tounge lad," Dad snorted, though I could see the faint grin appear on his face. "But aye, now that ye mention it, Olga hasnae changed since that painting was made. Swear she doesn't seem to age."

It was true; Olga did look good for her age and it did make me and Dad debate among ourselves over time of what her secret was.

"Guess she knows how to live," I added.

"I bet it's somethin' tae dae with all Scandinavian woman," Dad then theorised. "Those two bonnie lassies that ye work for are evident o' that. Actually, is the Queen still single?"

"Uh, aye," I muttered not knowing what to think of that and went back to drinking my tea.

"Ye know…I wouldnae mind if ye could pull her yerself, lad."

Hearing that caused me to chock on my tea. "Uh, naw Dad, I dinnae think that's a good idea. She's no' that interested in a relationship."

The conversation was going in a strange direction, but Dad wasn't finished yet. "Really? Huh, ah well, would be a nice wee thought of a Queen as my daughter-in-law…"

I gave Dad a look of uttered disbelief. Was he seriously thinking of me and Elsa as a... _thing_?! Then another thought crossed my mind as to why he wanted me to take this job in the first place…oh no, _surely_ not! Surely he was pulling my leg, right?

My thoughts were cut short as I saw Dad chuckle, a genuine chuckle for the first time and anything to try and get his mind of his wife and the baby was more than welcomed. "Actually lad speakin' o' which. Never got to ask ye that much about how life's treatin' ye in the castle."

"Naw I don't think ye did," I agreed, couldn't remember the last time me and Dad shared time to chat about work. "Where would ye like to start?"

"Anythin' of interest I should ken about?"

Now it was my turn to laugh and if you have read my tales you'd likely know why. "Oh, Christ Dad, ye will not **believe** the things I've encountered in that castle."

I don't know how long I chatted on for, but I then laid all the stories and encounters and misadventures that had happened to me which ranged from, as you might already know, Anna's birthday and Kristoff's birthday respectably, rude royal guests, dealing with reindeers and crazy snowmen, telling a lot about my pal Ivar's misadventures in which that in practically got a right kick of Dad. Calling him a clumsy bastard for what he did with Helga.

I went on tell him everything and Dad turned out to be captivated audience and when I finally finished, don't know long it had been, he was silent. "Bloody hell me' lad. How can all that happen in one place?"

"That's know as life in Arendelle castle," I muttered dryly. "Ye get use tae it."

"If only I could share some of the stories my time on the seas," Dad pondered referring to his job as a fisherman.

It was a tender time for the both of us; didn't matter what was going on the world and our current situation. Here we were sharing stories and enjoying some much overdue farther and son bonding in which I had missed a lot since starting work. It was then after we had a chuckle over something Dad said that I remembered something.

"One other thing I forgot to mention," I added. "Today is the first anniversary when I first started work."

Dad looked stunned. "Is that so? Well…what a time fae it, mainly with…"

He glanced up and the ceiling and his previously happy mood was replaced by one of sadness for Olga. His reaction broke my heart that after doing all I could to help take his mind of the matter, here I was back a square one. "Dad please, look at me. Everthin' will be fine. Trust me."

I knew saying that wasn't going to exactly help, I was being hopeful as Olaf in that moment, but I had to do something to comfort my Dad. As I pulled him close to embrace him for a hug, I looked up at the ceiling and wondered how things were going on and if Olga and the baby were safe. The fact that the doctor hadn't appeared yet did nothing to help calm our nerves.

"Lad, be honest wi' me," Dad suddenly said.

"Huh? What about?" I asked.

"Do ye think…ach, never mind."

I could pick up when Dad was hiding something I wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. "Go on, tell me. What'd ye want me tae be honest about?"

Dad sighed and rubbed his hand through his brown yet slightly greyer hair. "Alright…Ye absolutely sure that Olga will be ok?"

"Well, of course," I answered. "Like a friend told me today, miracles happen in Arendelle so there's that."

Olaf's words were now the unlikely source to keep my hopes up and I did wonder if the snowman knew more than he let on. That all being said, Dad looked unimpressed by what I was saying and sank back on the couch resting his hand on his head. "Is that so, Aiden? Hope yer right 'bout that."

Then just mere moments after he said those words, we heard raised voices from upstairs and, much to mine's and Dad's fear, cries of pain from Olga. We looked up at the ceiling then back at each other with expressions that pretty much said everything.

Olga was about to give birth.

At once Dad jumped off the sofa and ran towards the stairs to which I had to hurry and pull him back. "Get off me daft sod! Olga needs oor help!"

"Dad listen to me!" I retorted as I tried to pull him back. "The doctor said for us tae stay here until he had news fae us!"

"Never mind that, my wife could be in trouble!" Dad argued and the screaming from upstairs got louder which only caused him to feel more agitated about not being there to help Olga. For someone at his age he was quite a strong guy, and this was partly down for the many years he spent a fisherman.

Despite my best efforts to try and stop him which seem to go on for a full minute, he got as far as the staircase and I knew then it was losing battle to try and stop my farther. He was going to fight tooth and nail just to see Olga and save her from whatever horrors she might've been going through. As much as I would agree with Dad in helping Olga, I was given orders by the doctor to stay and make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid; in which here he was most certainly trying to do.

The screaming from upstairs only got more intense as to with the shouting in which I swear I thought I heard someone cry 'push!' during the cries of pain.

"Dad! Calm down, _please_!" I pleaded with Dad as I tried with all my might to hold him back.

"I'm no' gonna stop until I—!"

He suddenly stopped whatever he was saying as just in that moment, the screaming and shouting from upstairs stopped.

An eerie silence fell around the house and the two of us stood there at the bottom of the stairs stock-still and not knowing what to do next. It was indeed one of those moments in which you could hear a pin drop.

Then came a wonderful and glorious sound…a baby's cry.

The sound alone made my Dad weaken his grip and caused him to fall to his knees with now tears of relief, not anguish anymore, streaming down his face.

"Hear that Dad?" I said softly to him as I pulled him close for another hug. "The baby's fine…everythin' will be alright…Congratulations..."

The emotion was getting to me too after all that had happened, it seemed that lady luck was smiling on us. That though was quickly forgotten about is that while the baby seemed to be fine, what about _Olga_?

Almost on cue then, we heard footsteps approaching the stairs and we looked up seeing a relief and happy looking Doctor Larsson. "Congratulations Mr. Fergusson! It's a girl!"

Even though we already knew that the baby was alive thanks to hearing the crying, hearing the confirmation from Larsson about it was all that Dad needed to hear and he suddenly pulled the stunned doctor in for a thankful hug and began muttering the words 'thank you' repeatedly over his gratitude.

I though had other thoughts to ask about. "Doctor, what about Olga? Is she fine?"

"Exhausted, but alive," Larsson confirmed, pulling away from Dad. Hearing that seemed to take the weight of our shoulders. "It was quite astonishing really. I feared that we were going to lose both at one point as at parts she seemed to be on verge of falling asleep and never to awake. But once the baby was delivered, she managed to regain some strength and now both mother and daughter are coping, though the baby is slightly premature."

I was aware of a premature birth was likely to be the outcome, but I couldn't really think strength with my mind going off an a thousand different directions and I didn't know what to say, though it would be Dad who would speak first.

"C-Can I see me wife?" Dad croaked; his voice filled with emotion.

"Certainly," Doctor Larsson agreed and he led us up the stairs towards the bedroom.

As we entered, the bedroom was dimly lit from the candles glowing near the bedside and I saw the midwife, an older plump woman, who was busy taking notes down on a notepad while nearby the bed was the midwife's assistant, a younger girl not much older than me, who was busy folding up towels.

They though weren't the focus as me and Dad gazed over towards the bed as there lying amidst some slightly bloody bedsheets with her usually well-kept blonde hair in a right mess, sweating and looking exhausted, was Olga. Despite the worse horrors of childbirth she must've endured, she had a small smile on her face as there wrapped in a white blanket was the little baby girl making cooing sounds.

Me and Dad stood there near the end of the bed looking enchanted at what we were seeing. They were fine, everything was fine…

"Andrew? Aiden?" Olga's voice suddenly broke us out of our trace, her voice sounding raw.

" _Oh_ , Olga!" Dad uttered in relief and hurried forward to his wife in which he gave her a long and tender kiss on the lips in which she reciprocated. It was moment for them to share and as soon as the kiss was done, Dad looked down at the bundle of joy in Olga's arms, having that look that fathers have, and whispering intimate words for the little girl.

In that moment, I seemed to have been forgotten about as I stood there awkwardly at the end of the bed not knowing what to do. That was until Olga looked over to me. "Aiden, come over, it's your new sister," she requested gently.

With that, I went on over towards where Dad was standing, who was now holding the baby in his arms. It was then I got my first look of the little girl, she had mine's and Dad's brown hair yet had her mother's eyes and nose. I didn't care that she was premature, she looked like the perfect little baby girl and, no disrespect to Ivar and Helga what they thought of their wee lad, I was pretty sure this little lassie was something more than that.

"Wow, ye've done so well," I congratulated Olga. "Can't believe I've got a wee sister now."

"You could ask Queen Elsa for advice how to handle a little sister," Olga joked, which caused us to chuckle for the first together as family that night.

Then the midwife made a 'ahem' sound to get our attention. "Mr. and Mrs. Fergusson, do you have a name for the girl?"

Olga and Dad looked at each other with a knowing before looking back at the midwife, seemed they had planned for a name in the time I had been away. "Amelia," Olga announced proudly. "Amelia Fergusson."

A new Fergusson to the family. I smiled and gave Dad a friendly pat on the shoulder as the midwife began writing the name down the notepad and whatever else was needed to write down. Then Dad decided to hand me little Amelia into my arms and I felt quite nervous holding a new-born baby in my hands but quickly my fears evaporated as I saw her looking up at me with those blue eyes of hers.

"Hello wee sister," I greeted the baby, a tear rolling down my face. "I'm yer big brother, Aiden. Let me tell ye somethin', I can't wait to tell ye all the tales I have workin' up at the castle…"

Speaking of castles, I didn't go back to the castle that night as I decided to stay with my now slightly bigger family and spend time with them. If there is one thing that Elsa and Anna have told me is that family love is always important, and I was going to take that advice to heart now that I had a little sister to look out for.

Then I remembered what Olaf said about miracles happening in Arendelle and in the end, he was right. What an anniversary gift to remember.

 **XXX**

I would return back at work the following day and word had gotten round last night about what had happened and there was much rejoicing from fellow staff members, friends and the two sisters who both told me to pass on their best wishes to my parents. After all that, life would carry on as normal working in Arendelle castle though you will know that normal means normally many crazy things in that place.

That brings the end for a whole year's worth of tales from when I first started work as a servant and I will say when you have a Queen who has magical ice powers, a feisty princess, a smelly ice harvester, an intelligent reindeer and a living snowman, this job has been _far_ from mundane.

These…have been the tales of a servant.

 **The End**

* * *

 **There we are then, we are finished and I hope you have enjoyed this fic of mine and the longest I've written to date. Anyway, now the trivia I promised with some interesting facts about this fic...**

 **1\. Like Aiden, yours truly is Scottish and it adds a personal touch to the story.**

 **2\. Speaking of Scotland, Aiden and Andrew are originally from the east coast of Scotland and during the 19th century in which _Frozen_ is set, fishing trade was the big business then with a lot of trade going to Scandinavia so thus explains why they chose to move to Arendelle during that time which was actually quite common.**

 **3\. Aiden was suppose to be called Angus but it sounded a little bit cliché for a Scottish character so I changed it to Aiden which sounded better.**

 **4\. I did seriously consider making this at first a OC/Elsa story in which Aiden would eventually get into a relationship with Elsa, but I scraped the idea as I wanted it to be different from other OC stories in the Frozen fanfiction community in which many have OC/Elsa relations and that it would hopefully stand out, though speaking of which...**

 **5\. If you remember the little joke that Aiden's Dad says to Aiden about him wanting Elsa as his daughter in law? Is it just a joke he is pulling or was he serious in about it hence why he got him the job in the first place? That's for you the reader to speculate on! ;)**

 **6\. If you are wondering why Aiden doesn't sound that Scottish compared to his Dad there is a good reason for that. If you remember at the start in which they moved to Arendelle when Aiden was very young and because he has grown up in a Norwegian speaking area, his accent has slipped which sounds an odd mix of Scots and Scandinavian if you are wanting to read this in his voice (it's a soft tone). His Dad's accent never changed since he left.**

 **7\. The character Lily was to have a bigger role later on in which during the chapter with Anna's birthday in which Kristoff would've dared Aiden to try and take Lily for a dance which would've ended on a sad note in which she would end up with someone else and thus, Aiden would fail to get the girl. This was cut as it bloated the story and I decided to keep things straight forward, though if I do a sequel...**

 **8\. The last two chapters were _very_ different. The second last chapter would have been the news that Kristoff proposed to Anna and that it would focus on Aiden going on Kristoff's bachelor night, though it would end on a tragedy note as it would turn that Olga would suffer a miscarriage, the latter idea would be changed as the original idea would've been too much a mood whiplash for the story. **

**9\. The final chapter would've been Kristoff and Anna's wedding and would've featured many funny things happening then though it would end on a more poignant note for Aiden as the wedding would be coincidently take place on the anniversary of when Aiden joined, though that idea was kept for Amelia being born on that date. The reason for the subplot of the wedding being dropped as when I began writing it, I heard the news regarding several details about was revealed about _Frozen 2_ in which has Kristoff trying to propose to Anna so when I heard that, I had to go back and rewrite the ending.**

 **10\. I have already made a few ideas about what the sequel would be about in which for starters would take place through the events of the sequel and would reveal more of the Fergusson family and will give Aiden a new position in which will be fitting when you find out...**

 **Anyway, once again, I thank you all for reading this no matter who you are and supported me to get it done. I would love to hear if you want a sequel and what else do you think would be good to have for it? So until we meet again, thank you! :)**


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